THE  CHURCHES  AND 
EDUCATED  MEN 


tihvavy  of  t:he  t:heolo0ical  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


BV  4447  .H3  1904 

Hardy,  Edwin  Noah,  1861- 

The  churches  and  educated 

men 


.■^'^H  OF  mrJc) 
fFB    6  195! 


The  Churches  an(t<i^cALjE^ 
Educated  Men 


A  Study  of  the  Relation  of 
the  Church  to  Makers  and 
Leaders  of  Public  Opinion 


By,- 
EDWIN  NOAH  HARDY,  M.A. 

Minister  of  the  Bethany  Congregational  Church, 
Quincy,  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON 

XTbe  iPtlQrtm  press 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1904, 
By  EDWIN  NOAH  HARDY 


To  My  Wife 


Contents 


I 

The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint  ...  5 

II 

The    Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic,  or  The 

Period  of  Beginnings  .  .  .  .19 

III 
The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide,  or  The  Period  of  the 

Revolution '43 

IV 

The    Reign  of  Infidelity,    or  The   Period   of 

Rapid  Declension      .....       65 

V 
The  Religious  Renaissance,  or  The  Period  of 

Recovery 91 

VI 

Eddies  and  Cross-Currents,  or  The  Period  of 

Transition       .  .  .  .  •  •      1 1 7 

VII 
The    Great    Ingathering,    or    The   Period   of 

Revivals  .  .  .  .  .  '      ^37 

3 


4  Contents 

VIII 
Perplexing   Problems   and   Peculiar   Perils,  or 

The  Period  OF  Adaptation         .  .  -155 

IX 

The  Modern  Awakening,  or  The  Period  of  Re- 
construction .  .  .  .  .  .177 

X 

The  Present  Outlook 203 

XI 

The  College  Man's  Influence  .  .  .225 

XII 

The  Churches'  Equipment  for  Reaching  Men  .      247 

XIII 
The  Summary  ......      275 


THE  FOREWOED  AND  THE  VIEW- 
POINT 


"  The  man  who  would  show  to  common  minds  the  connec- 
tion between  colleges  and  the  interests  of  the  church,  would 
be  a  benefactor  to  his  species. ' ' — President  Timothy  Dwight. 

"But  whatever  may  have  been  in  the  past,  or  now  are, 
the  shortcomings  and  limitations  of  American  colleges,  they 
represent  the  mainspring  of  ox)portunity  and  preparation  to 
the  large  majority  of  those  who  guide  the  destinies,  domi- 
nate the  affairs,  and  lead  in  the  intellectual  and  artistic 
progress  of  our  Nation." — John  W.  Leonard,  Editor  of 
"  Who^s  Who  in  America.'''' 

"  If  you  glance  at  history^s  pages, 

In  all  lands  and  eras  known, 

You  will  find  the  vanished  ages 

Far  more  wicked  than  our  own. 
As  you  scan  each  word  and  letter, 

You  will  realize  it  more, 
That  the  world  to-day  is  better 
Than  it  ever  was  before." 

— Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  FOREWORD  AND  THE  VIEWPOINT 

Pkince  Bismarck  once  observed,  "  You 
must  lead  Germans  through  their  princes." 
The  truth  of  this  utterance  has  the  widest  ap- 
plication and  the  deepest  significance.  One  of 
the  most  serious  charges  made  against  the 
Christian  Church  is  that  she  is  losing  her  hold 
on  men  of  intellect.  The  future  is  dark  indeed 
if  this  be  true.  If  the  Church  fails  to  enlist  in 
her  ranks  the  makers  and  leaders  of  public 
opinion,  then  her  condition  is  most  deplorable 
and  her  prospects  are  most  discouraging.  If, 
however,  it  be  a  fact,  the  sooner  the  Church 
knows  it  the  better ;  but  if  the  Church  is  win- 
ning success  rather  than  suffering  defeat,  then 
let  the  welcome  truth  silence  the  carping  pessi- 
mists and  arouse  and  stimulate  the  hopeful. 
In  any  case,  the  truth  is  the  chief  desideratum 
and  should  be  known.  From  the  diagnosis,  if 
actual  decay  and  disease  be  found,  the  remedy 
will  be  all  the  more  quickly  discovered  and  ap- 
plied, for  such  is  the  recuperative  power  of  the 
Church  ;  if,  however,  it  is  ascertained  that 
there  is  increasing  strength,  more  vitality,  and 
7 


8        The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

a  positive  and  healthful  development,  then  by 
all  means  let  us  have  the  advantages  and  en- 
couragements accruing  therefrom. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  tide  of  the  Prot- 
estant Reformation  in  Europe  was  largely 
checked  by  Jesuitical  influences  in  the  great 
colleges  and  universities.  All  concede  that  he 
who  dominates  the  currents  of  thought  and 
life  which  issue  from  the  fountains  of  influence 
in  the  great  educational  institutions  is  a  master 
of  the  policies  and  destinies  of  the  people.  The 
same  is  also  true,  though  to  a  lesser  degree,  of 
every  man  who  is  a  maker  and  leader  of  public 
opinion.  Consequently  the  influence  of  the 
Church  upon  such  men  is  a  matter  of  the  most 
vital  and  serious  concern.  While  the  intrinsic 
worth  of  one  soul  in  the  sight  of  God  is  as 
great  as  that  of  another,  in  the  world  of  in- 
fluence some  men  outweigh  their  fellows  a 
hundredfold.  A  well-known  bishop  has  re- 
cently said  that  he  is  ready  to  match  one  well- 
trained,  consecrated  college  man  against  one 
thousand  ignorant  evil-doers.  The  very  ex- 
travagance of  such  an  utterance  serves  to 
emphasize  the  worth  of  the  Christian  leader  to 
the  Church  and  to  the  community. 

"The  destiny  of  any  nation  at  any  given 
time,"  says  Goethe,  "  depends  on  the  opinions 
of  the  young  men  who  are  under  twenty-five 
years  of  age."     Fortunately  the  Church  is  be- 


The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint        9 

ginning  to  recognize  how  largely  her  prosper- 
ity depends  upon  her  ability  to  win  and  hold 
the  men.  After  a  surprising  lethargy  she  has 
recently  awakened  to  a  new  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  neglected  field  of  effort. 
Hardly  any  other  phase  of  church  work  is  re- 
ceiving more  attention  at  present.  But  there 
seems  to  be  the  wide-spread  opinion  that  the 
Church  is  making  a  lamentable  failure  in  the 
matter  of  winning  men.  It  is  said  ''  that  the 
ratio  of  males  to  females  in  church-member- 
ship is  steadily  diminishing  "  ;  ^'  that  the  men 
no  longer  attend  the  services  of  the  Church  as 
they  once  did  "  ;  "  that  the  gulf  is  daily  widen- 
ing between  the  Church  and  the  laboring- 
man,"  and,  "  that  the  Church  fails  to  win  the 
men  of  intellect."  Of  these  various  and  se- 
rious charges  the  last  is  the  most  grave.  For 
surely  there  is  little  hope  to  reach  the  rank 
and  file  if  the  leaders  of  men  are  indifferent 
to  the  message  and  mission  of  the  Church. 

In  this  investigation  we  limit  ourselves  to 
this  last  charge,  and  seek,  if  possible,  trust- 
worthy information  not  only  concerning  the 
trend  of  the  religious  life  among  educated  men, 
but  also  to  inquire  respecting  the  present  status 
of  the  Church  among  the  leaders  of  public 
opinion.  It  is  not  altogether  easy  to  deter- 
mine the  field  and  the  method  of  this  interest- 
ing and  important  research.     To  some  it  might 


lo      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

seem  more  direct  and  satisfactory  to  study  in- 
dividually the  religious  life  of  the  great  intel- 
lectual leaders.  This  is  open,  however,  to  se- 
rious objections  and  great  difficulties.  It  would 
be  a  well-nigh  endless  task  to  secure  adequate 
information  concerning  a  sufficient  number  to 
furnish  satisfactory  data  for  a  convincing  con- 
clusion, though  such  a  study  would  produce 
most  profitable  results.  We  have,  however, 
made  choice  of  the  college  man  as  the  best  all- 
round  representative  of  the  man  of  brains. 
Not  that  every  college  graduate  is  a  maker  or 
leader  of  public  opinion,  or  that  none  but  col- 
lege men  ever  reach  the  front  ranks  of  intel- 
lectual leadership ;  but,  as  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion later  to  show,  college  men  for  some  reason 
exert  an  influence  remarkably  potent  and  alto- 
gether out  of  proportion  to  their  numerical 
strength.  Furthermore,  here  is  a  large  group 
of  men  concerning  whom  there  is  much  trust- 
worthy information  in  a  very  accessible  form. 
Another  consideration  has  also  had  weight  in 
determining  the  field  of  this  investigation.  The 
facts  and  figures  herein  presented  respecting 
the  religious  life  of  the  college  man  are  full  of 
interest  for  many  other  reasons  aside  from  that 
which  has  led  to  their  immediate  use  and  com- 
pilation. 

While  the  data  for  the  religious  status  and 
statistics  of  college  students  is  abundant  for 


The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint       1 1 

the  present,  it  is  surprisingly  meager,  and  in 
many  cases  unreliable,  concerning  the  past. 
Many  of  the  striking  utterances  of  eminent 
men,  as  well  as  quotations  from  some  of  the 
best  writers  prove  under  examination  nothing 
more  than  hearsay  or  guesswork.  The  greatest 
difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  substantiat- 
ing certain  current  statements  concerning  the 
religious  life  in  the  college  of  bygone  days. 
Some  indeed  may  pronounce  adversely  on  the 
evidence  herein  presented.  All  that  we  claim 
is,  that  we  have  not  intentionally  summoned 
to  the  witness-stand  one  whose  testimony  we 
had  reason  to  question.  For  the  benefit  of 
those  who  disagree,  as  well  as  for  those  who 
agree  with  us,  we  shall  cite  as  far  as  practica- 
ble our  authorities.  We  have  been  in  com- 
munication with  every  college  and  university 
in  the  country  founded  before  1825  and  with 
a  large  share  of  those  established  in  recent 
years.  From  correspondence  with  the  officers 
of  these  colleges  certain  reliable  historians  of 
each  have  been  suggested.  So  far  as  possible 
these  authorities  have  been  consulted,  and  from 
them  most  of  our  citations  are  drawn.  If  the 
credibility  of  the  testimony  depends  upon 
the  character  of  the  witness,  we  would  say 
that  some  of  those  quoted  are  recognized  as 
the  very  best  authorities  on  the  subject  that 
our  country  has  produced.     It  should  also  be 


12      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

said  that  the  investigation  was  begun  and  con- 
tinued with  no  theory  to  uphold  but  simply  to 
ascertain  the  facts.  We  believe  that  this 
method  of  presenting  our  authorities  and  of 
citing  in  direct  quotation  the  opinion  of 
those  best  qualified  to  speak  upon  the  subject 
will  prove  exceedingly  valuable  to  the  reader. 
It  will  enable  him  to  weigh  the  facts  and 
figures  and  to  draw  his  own  inferences,  and  at 
the  same  time  will  furnish  him  data  which  are 
well-nigh  inaccessible  to  those  who  are  not 
near  the  largest  libraries  and  who  have  neither 
time  nor  patience  for  long  and  painstaking  in- 
vestigation. It  does  not  seem  likely  that  fur- 
ther facts  will  materially  alter  the  general 
conclusions  herein  reached.  But  of  this  each 
must  be  his  own  judge  ;  this  is  simply  a  study 
of  the  facts  at  hand  and  does  not  presume  on 
anything  more. 

Though  the  method  is  not  altogether  satis- 
factory, the  results  of  this  study  may  be  most 
advantageously  presented  grouped  under  spe- 
cial periods,  so  entitled  as  roughly  to  charac- 
terize the  religious  status  of  the  college  in 
each.  The  convenience  and  the  value  of  this 
grouping  will  become  more  evident  as  we  pro- 
ceed, and  will,  we  trust,  commend  itself  to 
most  readers.  These  periods  are  not  arbitrarily 
determined,  but  naturally  differentiate  them- 
selves   by   decidedly   marked    characteristics. 


The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint       13 

These  periods  are :  (1)  The  Sovereignty  of 
the  Ecclesiastic,  or  The  Period  of  the  Begin- 
nings (1638-1770) ;  (2)  The  Spiritual  Ebb-tide, 
or  The  Period  of  the  Revolution  (1770-1795) ; 
(3)  The  Reign  of  Infidelity,  or  The  Period  of 
Rapid  Declension  (1795-1800) ;  (4)  The  Re- 
ligious Renaissance,  or  The  Period  of  Recovery 
(1800-1810) ;  (5)  Eddies  and  Cross-currents,  or 
The  Period  of  Transition  (1810-1820);  (6) 
The  Great  Ingathering,  or  The  Period  of  Re- 
vivals (1820-1850) ;  (7)  Perplexing  Problems 
and  Peculiar  Perils,  or  The  Period  of  Adapta- 
tion (1850-1875) ;  (8)  The  Modern  Awakening, 
or  The  Period  of  Reconstruction  (1875-1900); 
(9)   The  Present  Outlook. 

This  grouping  adds  much  to  the  intelligent 
grasp  of  the  whole  situation.  For  there  are 
certain  striking  peculiarities  by  which  the  facts 
and  events  associated  in  each  group  may  be 
readily  distinguished.  And  these  character- 
istics are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  may  well  be 
designated  as  steps  or  stages  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  religious  life  of  the  modern  col- 
lege. While  we  are  persuaded  that  this  de- 
velopment has  been  a  true,  sane  and  positive 
advance,  we  are  confident  that  every  one  will 
concede,  whatever  their  estimate  of  the  relig- 
ious state  of  the  college  now  as  compared  with 
that  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  that  there  has 
been  a  most  remarkable  and  significant  relight* 


14      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

ious  evolution  in  American  educational  institu- 
tions. While  it  is  somewhat  aside  from  the 
purpose  of  this  investigation  to  make  a  careful 
study  of  this  development,  we  shall  frequently 
call  attention  to  it  and  shall  hope  that  erelong 
the  subject  will  receive  the  careful  considera- 
tion which  it  deserves. 

In  searching  for  some  basis  of  comparison 
v^e  find  that  church-membership  is  on  the 
whole  the  most  satisfactory.  We  are  fully 
aware  that  it  fails  to  furnish  a  safe  and  sure 
index  of  the  religious  life.  We  anticipate  the 
objection  that  there  are  many  professing 
Christians  in  college  as  elsewhere  who  are 
such  in  name  only.  Certain  others  will  re- 
mind us  that  there  are  many  who  are  ac- 
tually Christians,  but  who  for  various  reasons 
have  failed  to  register  their  conviction  by 
church-membership,  and  also  that  there  is 
ordinarily  a  period  more  or  less  extended  be- 
tween the  decision  to  lead  the  Christian  life, 
however  abruptly  or  gradually  that  decision 
may  be  reached,  and  the  public  profession  of 
the  same  by  union  with  the  Church.  These 
two  objections  referring  to  two  considerable 
groups  of  college  students  have  been  carefully 
considered  with  the  conclusion  that  they  just 
about  equally  offset  one  another.  There  will 
be  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  concerning 
this  conclusion,  but  to  most  it  will  prove  satis- 


The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint       15 

factory,  especially  to  those  who  patiently  in- 
vestigate the  facts. 

It  is  also  granted  that  church-membership  is 
not  absolutely  determinative  or  accurately  in- 
dicative of  the  religious  life;  notwithstand- 
ing it  furnishes  a  ready-made,  exceedingly  con- 
venient and  withal  quite  satisfactory  basis  for 
investigation,  comparisons  and  conclusions. 
There  is  certainly  no  other  external  and  gen- 
eral sign  and  evidence  of  the  inner  spiritual 
life  which  will  serve  us  as  well.  While  we 
shall  in  nowise  confine  ourselves  to  church- 
membership  as  the  basis  for  determining  the 
quality  and  the  quantity  of  religious  life  in  col- 
lege, we  shall  present  such  evidence  as  we  have 
found,  deeming  it  of  great  comparative  value. 

We  also  recognize  that  church-membership 
and  public  profession  are  fluctuating  standards 
for  determining  religious  values,  notwithstand- 
ing the  changes  are  not  nearly  so  great  as 
might  at  first  appear.  In  the  early  days  of 
American  life  church-membership  carried  with 
it  certain  very  choice  political  privileges  not 
otherwise  obtained.  It  is  safe  to  presume  that 
this  would  furnish  an  added  incentive  for 
uniting  with  the  Church  which  to-day  is  lack- 
ing. In  some  denominations  and  in  some  local- 
ities more  exacting  requirements  were  de- 
manded for  church-membership  than  at  present. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  certain  other  denomina- 


l6      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

tions  and  in  certain  other  localities  the  require- 
ments for  church-membership  were  exceed- 
ingly lax,  notably  so  throughout  the  major 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  All  things 
considered,  we  are  convinced  that  the  per- 
centage of  Christians  outside  the  Church  is 
much  larger  to-day  than  formerly,  and  espe- 
cially in  those  early  days  when  membership  in 
the  Church  was  deemed  almost  essential  to 
salvation. 

The  old  count  in  Gil  Bias  was  wont  to  com- 
plain that  the  fruits  and  especially  the  peaches 
were  not  nearly  so  large  nor  so  deliciously 
sweet  as  in  his  childhood.  There  are  a  great 
many  others  who  have  had  a  similar  experience 
about  other  things,  and  for  much  the  same  rea- 
son. This  trick  of  the  memory,  which  is  so 
signally  prophetic  of  a  certain  element  of  felic- 
ity for  the  future  life,  presents  obvious  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  securing  accurate  data  from 
reminiscences.  Few  things  prove,  under  in- 
vestigation, so  surprisingly  evasive,  illusory 
and  deceptive  as  "  the  good  old  times "  con- 
cerning which  we  hear  so  much  and  about 
which  there  is  so  little  reality.  Far  be  it  from 
us  to  cast  any  reflection  on  the  ideals,  influen- 
ces, institutions  and  men  of  the  past.  Yet  the 
deeper  one  penetrates  the  history  of  bygone 
days  the  less  likely  is  he  to  desire  a  return  to 
the  customs  and  conditions  of  the  past.    With 


The  Foreword  and  the  Viewpoint       17 

a  profound  admiration  for  the  virtues  of  the 
fathers  it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  prevail- 
ing vices  and  the  conspicuous  faults  of  their 
times.  There  will  doubtless  be  some  who  will 
challenge  many  of  the  findings  of  this  study 
and  investigation  by  their  recollections  of  their 
own  college  days  which  were  to  their  minds  so 
vastly  superior  in  every  way  to  the  conditions 
which  obtain  to-day.  "Wherever  we  have  made 
use  of  reminiscent  evidence  we  have  endeav- 
ored to  substantiate  the  facts  in  other  ways. 
While  we  would  not  make  a  fetich  of  statis- 
tics or  invest  them  with  undue  importance, 
they  certainly  possess  an  approximate  and  sug- 
gestive, if  not  an  absolute,  value.  For  pur- 
poses of  comparison  they  are  certainly  the 
most  valuable  data  we  have.  And  while  they 
are  not  sufiiciently  accurate  for  minute  study 
they  carry  convincing  weight  in  the  broader 
generalizations  which  deal  with  long  periods  of 
time  and  with  groups  of  events  indicating  un- 
mistakable changes.  But  in  respect  to  the  fig- 
ures and  the  statistics  we  again  state  that  we 
simply  present  the  evidence  and  the  data 
which  we  have  collected ;  if  the  inferences  and 
the  conclusions  are  unwarranted  we  ask  no  one 
to  accept  them.  We  feel,  however,  that  the 
summary  and  conclusions  are  so  fair  and  con- 
servative that  few  will  care  to  discount  or 
question  them. 


THE  SOYEEEIGNTY  OF  THE  ECCLESI- 
ASTIC, OE   THE   PERIOD   OF 
BEGUSTNINGS  1636-1770 


"  In  this  time  the  predominant  influence  in  the  colleges, 

as  in  the  State,  was  ecclesiastical,  and  largely  clerical.  The 
Church  and  the  State  were  in  most  respects  one,  and  that  one 
was  the  Church.  In  the  Church  the  most  influential  mem- 
ber was  its  pastor.  The  college,  too,  was  governed  by  the 
clergymen.  The  president  was  himself  a  clergyman,  and 
the  students  in  large  numbers  became  clergymen. " — Pres. 
C.  F.  Timing,  The  American  College  in  American  Life,  (p.  2.) 

"The  first  seal  which  was  actually  used  had  the  motto, 
'  In  Christo  Gloriam.  '  This,  as  it  would  be  ordinarily 
understood,  conveys  the  erroneous  impression  that  the  insti- 
tution was  designed  to  be,  or  that  it  actually  was  a  theolog- 
ical school  ;  and  such  an  idea  is  still  more  directly  counte- 
nanced by  the  motto  subsequently  introduced,  and  which  is 
still  in  use,  'Christo  Et  Ecclesi^.'  " — History  of  Har- 
vard University. 

Benjamin  Pierce,  in  the  History  of  Harvard  University, 
thus  tersely  and  truly  defines  the  purpose  and  plan  of  the 
founders  of  the  institution  :  * '  The  course  of  studies  em- 
braced the  contemporaneous  learning  of  the  colleges  in  Eng- 
land, shaped,  however,  with  a  particular  view  to  the  object 
which  our  ancestors  had  most  at  heart,  the  supply  of  the 
churches  with  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  learned  and 
able  ministers  and  which  they  have  taken  effectual  care  to 
preserve  from  oblivion  by  the  motto  :  '  Christo  et  Ecclesias/  " 
pp.  7,  8. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  ECCLESIASTIC, 
OR  THE  PERIOD  OF  BEGINNINGS 

Only  sixteen  years  elapsed  after  the  land- 
ing of  the  Pilgrims  before  the  establishment  of 
Harvard  College,  though  it  was  two  years  later 
before  the  institution  was  finally  chartered. 
"  Dreading  to  leave  an  illiterate  ministry  to  the 
churches  when  our  ministers  shall  lie  in  the 
dust,"  is  the  language  by  which  the  founders 
describe  their  motives  in  that  far-seeing  and 
self-denying  enterprise  which  they  so  soon  un- 
dertook for  the  good  of  their  posterity  and  to  the 
glory  of  God.  Colleges  for  the  preparation  of 
the  ministry  was  one  of  the  first  things  that 
our  forefathers  thought  of,  and  as  Cotton 
Mather  well  adds,  "  It  was  the  best  thing  they 
ever  thought  of."  Yale  came  into  being  in 
1701  for  the  same  purpose,  as  the  charter  of 
the  school  indicates,  "  that  men  might  be  fitted 
for  public  employment  both  in  the  church  and 
the  public  state."  The  declaration  of  the  first 
board  of  trustees  also  affirmed  that  it  was  their 
obligation,  as  it  had  been  that  of  their  fathers, 
"to  propagate  in  this  wilderness  the  blessed 


22      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

reformed  Protestant  religion  in  the  purity  of 
its  order  and  worship,  not  only  to  their  poster- 
ity, but  also  to  the  barbarous  natives." 

William  and  Mary  College,  established  a  few- 
years  earlier,  in  1693,  by  the  Episcopalians, 
grew  out  of  a  similar  religious  purpose.  Dr. 
James  Blair  came  to  the  colony  in  1685  and 
at  once  began  to  agitate  for  a  college.  This 
eminent  divine  "  was  deeply  affected  with  the 
low  state  of  both  learning  and  piety  in  the 
colony,  and,  as  the  last  effective  means  of 
elevating  both,  resolved  if  possible  to  secure 
the  establishment  of  a  college."  Princeton, 
founded  in  1746,  as  one  of  the  best  results  of 
the  Great  Awakening,  was  none  the  less  ex- 
plicit in  the  declaration  of  its  religious  pur- 
pose. Its  object,  as  expressed  in  the  public 
declaration  of  all  the  parties  concerned  in 
its  foundation,  including  the  governor  him- 
self, "was  to  promote  the  cultivation  of  re- 
ligion and  of  a  liberal  education  in  common, 
and  especially  to  provide  an  educated  ministry 
for  the  colonies."  "  From  the  first  it  had  been 
the  design  of  the  trustees  to  provide  for  the 
instruction  of  a  theological  class." 

These  and  similar  utterances  shed  much 
light  on  the  religious  condition  of  those  early 
days  and  indicate  the  motive  and  object  in  the 
founding  of  these  early  and  powerful  institu- 
tions.    Many  of  our  later  colleges  have  been 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     23 

established  from  motives  not  a  whit  less 
worthy,  but  with  this  difference,  that  during 
the  whole  of  the  period  under  consideration, 
and  for  some  forty  years  later,  these  colleges 
to  a  large  degree  furnished  the  theological 
training  for  the  ministry.  While  it  is  true 
that  this  ministerial  preparation  was  supple- 
mented by  a  longer  or  shorter  period  of  resi- 
dent study  with  a  leading  divine,  yet  the  col- 
lege curriculum  was  so  adjusted  to  the  theo- 
logical needs  of  the  ministerial  student,  that 
only  a  few  months  of  additional  training  were 
required  of  the  candidate  for  ordination.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  the  colleges  provided  theo- 
logical instruction  so  satisfactorily  that  the 
need  of  special  seminaries  for  the  purpose  was 
not  felt  till  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  fact,  the  examination  of  the 
courses  of  study  in  the  college  of  colonial  days 
shows  a  very  decided  emphasis  upon  those  of 
a  theological  character.  This  was  inevitable, 
owing  to  the  conception  and  purpose  of  the 
college  as  held  by  those  most  interested  in  the 
higher  education.  The  college  was  to  furnish 
that  special  training  which  would  make  impos- 
sible an  illiterate  ministry.  All  this  has  a 
very  direct  bearing  on  the  religious  status  of 
the  colonial  college.  More  than  half  of  the 
graduates  of  Harvard,  for  the  first  sixty  years, 
became  ministers.    In  Yale  about  three-fourths 


24      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

of  the  graduates  for  the  first  twelve  years,  a 
little  less  than  half  for  the  first  thirty  years, 
and  no  less  than  forty  per  cent,  of  all  who 
graduated  for  the  first  century  eventually  en- 
tered the  ministry.  About  one-half  of  the 
alumni  of  Princeton  during  the  twenty-eight 
years  preceding  the  Revolutionary  War  were 
clergymen.  Probably  the  proportion  of  stu- 
dents preparing  for  the  ministry  prior  to  the 
struggle  for  independence  was  five  times  larger 
than  that  of  the  past  fifty  years.  In  fact,  a 
resolution  to  matriculate  in  Yale  or  Princeton 
in  those  early  days  was  considered  very  nearly 
equivalent  to  a  declaration  to  enter  the  min- 
istry. 

We  believe  that  we  may  best  indicate  the 
extreme  paternalism  and  ecclesiasticism  of  that 
early  day  by  a  somewhat  extended  reference 
to  the  laws  and  rules  of  college  government. 
It  is  not  altogether  easy  to  divest  ourselves  of 
the  very  tenacious  impression  that  in  the  days 
of  our  forefathers  there  were  neither  boys  nor 
young  men.  "  When  we  think  of  ancient  times 
we  are  apt  to  picture  to  ourselves  ancient  men, 
and  to  forget  that  there  were  sons  as  well  as 
fathers  two  centuries  ago."  The  college  life 
and  manners  of  these  college  boys  of  ye  olden 
times  are  exceedingly  interesting  and  too  little 
known.  The  Dunster  code  inaugurated  under 
the  first  president  of  Harvard  presents  a  vivid 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     25 

picture  of  college  requirements  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago.  "They  [the  students] 
shall  honor,  as  parents,  the  magistrates,  elders, 
tutors,  and  all  who  are  older  than  themselves, 
as  reason  requires,  being  silent  in  their  pres- 
ence except  when  asked  a  question,  not  contra- 
dicting, but  showing  all  those  marks  of  honor 
and  reverence  which  are  in  praiseworthy  use, 
saluting  them  with  a  bow,  standing  un- 
covered." 

"  The  seventeenth  rule  "  read  as  follows  :  "  If 
any  student  shall  violate  the  law  of  God  and 
of  this  college,  either  from  perverseness,  or 
from  gross  negligence,  after  he  shall  have  been 
twice  admonished,  he  may  he  whipped^  if  not 
an  adult,  but  if  an  adult  his  case  shall  be  laid 
before  the  overseers,  that  notice  may  be  pub- 
licly taken  of  him  according  to  his  deserts.  In 
case  of  graver  offences,  however,  let  no  one 
expect  such  gradual  proceedings,  or  that  an 
admonition  must  necessarily  be  repeated  in  rela- 
tion to  the  same  law."  There  is  the  evidence 
that  this  rule  was  not  a  dead  letter,  but  was 
rigidly  enforced  as  conditions  demanded.  In- 
asmuch as  the  laws  were  many  and  particular 
there  must  have  been  a  deal  of  official  activity 
or  a  surprising  amount  of  student  docility. 

"  The  twelfth  rule  "  would  certainly  cause 
some  difficulty  in  the  college  life  of  to-day. 
"  ]N"o  scholar  shall  buy,  sell,  or  exchange  any- 


26      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

thing  of  the  value  of  sixpence,  without  the  ap- 
probation of  his  parent,  guardian,  or  tutor. 
But  if  he  shall  do  so,  he  shall  be  fined  by  the 
president  according  to  the  measure  of  his 
offence." 

These  old-time  regulations  were  humorously, 
intelligently  and  truthfully  interpreted  by 
Edgar  G.  Kich,  a  Harvard  Junior  in  1886,  at 
the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  founding  of  the  college : — 

"  Our  early  fathers  were  firm  believers  in  the 
total  depravity  of  mankind.  If  at  any  time  a 
brother's  faith  in  the  doctrine  seemed  weak  he 
was  exhorted  to  look  at  the  young  men  of  the 
college,  upon  whose  souls  the  devil  still  held  a 
tenacious  grip.  Upon  the  college  authorities 
responsibility  bore  heavily.  It  was  an  axiom 
with  them  that  if  there  was  a  choice  between 
right  and  wrong  the  student  would  always  do 
wrong ;  if  there  was  no  wrong  to  be  done 
within  easy  reach  he  would  go  out  of  his  way 
to  find  it,  as  if  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  funda- 
mental dogma  of  the  day.  The  college  exer- 
cised great  ingenuity  in  attempting  to  antici- 
pate the  student.  A  list  of  all  conceivable 
offences  was  drawn  up  and  the  penalty  for  each 
affixed.  Some  offences  were  punishable  by  ex- 
pulsion, some  with  suspension,  some  with  flog- 
ging, some  with  cuffing.  There  was  a  list  of 
fifty 'two  minor  offences  with  fines  ranging  from 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     27 

a  penny  for  tardiness  at  prayers  to  £2.  10s.  for 
absence  from  town  without  leave.  Flogging 
was  administered  by  the  president  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  faculty  and  students.  In  order  to 
realize  the  picturesqueness  of  the  performance, 
imagine  such  a  case  of  discipline  brought 
down  to  our  time,  and  this  place  the  scene  of 
the  punishment.  The  members  of  the  faculty 
are  ranged  on  the  platform  and  you,  the  stu- 
dents, are  summoned  to  witness  and  to  take 
warning.  The  culprit  is  brought  forward. 
Our  worthy  president  invokes  divine  blessing ; 
then  with  all  solemnity  flogs  or  cuffs  the  stu- 
dent as  the  nature  of  his  offence  demands,  and 
finally  petitions  the  Almighty  to  give  the 
offender  a  new  heart  and  to  bring  him  into 
the  fold  of  the  righteous." 

This  picture  is  not  overdrawn,  for  flogging 
did  not  fall  entirely  into  desuetude  till  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolution  and  the  practice  of 
fining  till  well  into  the  nineteenth  century. 
Any  authoritative  history  of  Harvard  may  be 
consulted  with  advantage  by  those  desirous  of 
further  information  concerning  college  regula- 
tions in  the  ecclesiastic  period. 

In  further  confirmation  of  the  compulsory 
character  of  religious  exercises  of  the  early 
days  of  Harvard,  we  quote  from  Prof.  F.  G. 
Peabody : 

"  In  the  first  list  of  college  regulations, — 


28      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

called,  as  now  seems  curious,  *  the  liberties  '  of 
the  college,  the  first  rules  are  these :  Every 
scholar  shall  consider  the  main  end  of  his  life 
and  study  to  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ. 
Every  one  shall  so  exercise  himself  in  reading 
the  Scriptures  twice  a  day,  that  they  may  be 
ready  to  give  an  account  of  their  efficiency. 
And  all  Sophisters  and  bachelors  shall  publicly 
repeat  sermons  in  the  hall  whenever  they  are 
called  forth."  ^ 

The  study  of  the  charter,  granted  by  the 
State  in  1650,  and  of  the  seal  which,  with 
some  modifications,  remained  the  same  for 
two  and  a  half  centuries,  is  most  interesting 
and  significant.  The  charter  remains  the 
same  ;  the  seal  and  motto  of  the  university, 
embodying  the  principles  for  which  the  insti- 
tution was  established,  have  lost  nothing  of 
their  significance,  even  though  they  receive  a 
slightly  different  interpretation.  A  shield  with 
three  open  books  spread  upon  it,  each  contain- 
ing t^vo  letters  of  the  word  Veritas,  is  pre- 
sented as  the  heart  and  center  of  the  college 
seal,  and  encircling  it  is  the  motto  Christo  et 
EcclesItE.  "Piety,  morality,  godliness  and 
truth,  these  are  the  four  great  words  which 
mark  the  earliest  official  utterances  of  the 
college  to  religion."  And  while  the  idiosyn- 
crasies and  the  eccentricities  of  the  intense 
*  Peabody's  sermon,  250th  Anniversary,  1886. 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     29 

Puritanism  of  the  former  period  have  passed 
away,  the  Puritan  spirit  remains  true  to  the 
traditions  of  the  past. 

Much  the  same  conditions  prevailed  at  Yale 
College,  founded  sixty-five  years  later  than  Har- 
vard, indicating  at  once  the  universality,  as  well 
as  the  durability  and  tenacity,  of  the  principles 
and  methods  of  college  management  which 
characterized  the  beginnings  of  higher  edu- 
cation in  America.  As  has  been  shown  in  a 
masterly  way  by  Charles  Francis  Adams,  in 
"Three  Episodes  of  Massachusetts  History," 
the  institutional  life  of  New  England,  and 
practically  of  all  America,  was  signally  uni- 
form and  unchanged  from  the  latter  part  of 
the  colonial  period  till  the  days  of  the  Kevo- 
lution,  and  in  many  sections  for  many  years 
later.  This  was  particularly  true  of  the  college 
life,  and  consequently  we  discover  a  recurrence 
of  those  ecclesiastic  influences  not  only  at  Yale 
College,  but  in  all  the  colleges  which  antedate 
the  Eevolution. 

The  purpose  of  the  founders  and  friends  of 
Yale  College,  the  character  of  the  curriculum, 
and  the  predominance  of  students  preparing 
for  the  ministry,  naturally  produced  a  re- 
ligious atmosphere  more  marked  in  many 
respects  than  that  found  in  any  subsequent 
period.  In  those  early  days,  "Each  student 
was  regarded  as  a  special  subject,  to  be  put 


30      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

through  a  regular  and  inflexible  course  of 
religious  development.  Whether  a  candidate 
for  the  ministry  or  not,  he  was  required  to 
recite  in  the  Greek  E'ew  Testament  and 
Hebrew  Psalter.  Eector  Pierson  grounded 
each  of  his  pupils  in  orthodox  theology,  and 
also  heard  them  recite  every  week  from  the 
Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism  in  Latin.  Ames's 
Theological  Theses  came  in  for  their  due  share 
of  attention,  and  taught  the  unsophisticated 
youth  such  fine  ethical  distinctions  as  the 
difference  between  the  harmful  effects  of  a 
game  of  cards  and  the  elevating  influences  of  a 
well  conducted  public  lottery.  Except  on 
Sundays,  the  Scriptures  were  read  daily  at 
morning  and  evening  prayers,  and  at  these 
hours  students  were  not  unfrequently  called 
upon  to  explain  the  particular  passage  under 
consideration.  On  the  Sabbath,  at  prayers. 
Rector  Pierson  expounded  practical  theology 
to  his  charges  or  made  them  repeat  sermons."  ^ 

The  following  are  some  of  the  rules  of  Yale 
College,  in  1720,  which  the  students  were 
obliged  to  copy,  so  that  they  could  not  plead 
ignorance  of  them.  They  are  here  cited  as  a 
further  specimen  of  the  college  officialism  of 
the  age ; 

"  All  students  shall  be  slow  to  speak,  and 
avoid  (and  as  much  as  in  them  lies  take  care 

*  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  pp.  6,  7. 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     31 

that  others  may  avoid)  profane  swearing,  lying 
and  needless  asseverations,  foolish  garrulity, 
chiding,  strife,  railing,  reproaching,  abusive 
jesting,  uncomely  noise,  spreading  ill  rumors, 
divulging  secrets,  and  all  manner  of  trouble- 
some and  offensive  behavior. 

"  No  student  shall,  under  any  pretence  what- 
soever, use  familiar  acquaintance  of  persons  of 
unquiet  and  dissolute  lives,  nor  intermeddle 
with  other  men's  business,  nor  intrude  himself 
into  the  chambers  of  other  students  ...  or 
go  a  fowling  or  hunting  without  the  leave  of 
his  Proctor  or  tutor,  nor  shall  any  student  be 
absent  from  his  chamber  after  nine  of  the 
clock  at  night,  nor  watch  after  eleven,  nor 
have  a  light  before  four  in  the  morning,  except 
of  extraordinary  occasions. 

"  Seeing  God  is  the  giver  of  all  wisdom, 
every  scholar  besides  private  or  secret  prayer, 
wherein  all  we  are  bound  to  ask  wisdom,  shall 
be  present  morning  and  evening  at  public 
prayer  in  the  hall  at  the  accustomed  hour, 
which  is  to  be  ordinarily  at  six  of  the  clock  in  the 
morning,  from  the  tenth  of  March  to  the  tenth 
of  September,  and  then  again  to  the  tenth  of 
March,  at  sunrising,  at  between  four  and  five 
of  the  clock,  all  the  year  long. 

"  No  scholar  shall  use  the  English  tongue  in 
the  collegiate  school  with  his  fellow  scholars 
unless  he  be  called  to  public  exercises  proper 


32      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

to  be  attended  in  the  tongue,  but  scholars  in 
their  chambers  and  when  they  are  together 
shall  talk  latine." ' 

Even  more  than  these  citations  show,  the 
college  authorities  attempted  to  direct  the 
inner  spiritual  life  of  the  students.  While  we 
honor  them  in  the  effort,  and  would  not  de- 
tract one  iota  of  the  credit  due  them,  we  are 
heartily  glad  of  the  introduction  of  the  new 
order  of  things.  Yet  these  religious  require- 
ments must  be  considered  in  our  investigation 
of  the  spiritual  status  of  the  college  in  the  early 
days. 

Notwithstanding  the  semi-theological  char- 
acter of  the  colleges,  the  fostering  influence 
which  surrounded  the  student  life  was  in  no- 
wise correspondingly  religious.  This  is  mani- 
fest in  many  ways.  For  the  last  seventy-five 
years  of  this  period  there  was  a  very  positive 
and  increasing  moral  deterioration  coupled 
with  a  very  marked  religious  declension.  The 
historians  of  Harvard  state  most  emphatically 
that  the  ethical  ideals  of  the  students  were 
materially  lowered  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  increasing  liberty  of  the  student 
body  manifests  itself  in  the  grosser  forms  of 
intemperance,  licentiousness  and  insubordina- 
tion.    If  Whitefield  and  those  associated  with 

^  Daniel  Dorchester,  Christianity  in  the  United  States, 
p.  245. 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     33 

him  be  taken  as  competent  witnesses,  then  the 
religious  life  was  sadly  decadent  at  both  Har- 
vard and  Yale  at  the  time  of  the  ''  Great 
Awakening."  After  making  a  very  liberal 
and  necessary  discount  for  the  marked  preju- 
dice of  the  accusers,  there  still  remains  the 
prima  facie  evidence  of  moral  and  spiritual 
degeneration.  In  Yale  there  was  a  temporary 
spiritual  quickening  during  the  Great  Awak- 
ening, 1Y35-1745.  In  all  the  colleges  there 
were  special  periods  of  revival  interests.  But 
the  trend  was  decidedly  downward  from  the 
exalted  spiritual  devotion  of  the  early  days  to 
the  skepticism  of  the  Eevolutionary  period. 
And  certainly  we  could  hardly  expect  that 
the  religious  status  of  the  colleges  should  be 
very  much  higher  than  that  of  the  churches, 
which  was  then  in  a  most  deplorably  low  con- 
dition. 

During  the  latter  portion  of  this  period 
there  were  unmistakable  external  signs  of  a 
religious  ferment  working  within,  Avhich  had 
been  slowly  and  steadily  gaining  strength  for 
several  decades  in  the  student  life  of  the  col- 
leges. In  the  beginning  the  spiritual  individu- 
ality of  the  undergraduate  was  so  thoroughly 
repressed  or  suppressed  that  little  public  ex- 
pression of  it  is  discoverable.  In  Yale  in  the 
early  days  there  was,  as  we  have  seen,  college 
legislation  compelling  secret  prayer  and  Bible 


34     The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

study.  The  colleges  then  in  almost  every  re- 
spect exercised  their  prerogative  of  governing 
in  loco  parentis,  and  made  the  surprising  at- 
tempt to  adjudicate  concerning  the  inner  spir- 
itual experience  of  its  students.  A  whole 
chapter  might  be  written  on  this  intensely  in- 
teresting evolution  of  student  religious  inde- 
pendence. So  much  space  is  given  to  it  here, 
because  it  is  one  of  the  most  marked  charac- 
teristics of  the  problem  we  are  considering, 
and  because  without  a  knowledge  of  it  no  one 
is  able  correctly  to  estimate  either  the  religious 
life  of  the  former  time  or  its  expression  in  the 
college  life  of  to-day.  There  is  thus  a  most 
radical  difference  between  the  religious  life  of 
the  former  and  the  present  time. 

Up  to  the  "  Great  Awakening,"  externally 
at  least,  everything  remained  practically  un- 
changed ;  internally,  however,  among  the 
students,  a  new  spirit  of  religious  independ- 
ence had  come  into  being,  just  when,  where 
and  how,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  now  to 
determine.  Apparently  of  slow  growth,  it 
had  been  carefully  nourished  and  grew  vigor- 
ous before  the  college  authorities  were  fully 
aware  of  its  existence.  The  evolution  of  this 
religious  independence  on  the  part  of  the 
students  was  the  natural  and  almost  inevitable 
result  of  the  spirit  which  animated  the  fathers 
in  the  momentous  struggle  for  national  and 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     35 

political  freedom.  At  the  distance  of  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to 
appreciate  the  rigidity  of  college  officialism  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  intensity  of  the  awaken- 
ing spiritual  independence  of  the  students  on 
the  other.  Every  college  was  the  scene  of  a 
very  effectual  religious  revolution,  which  in 
the  course  of  seventy-five  years  quietly 
wrought  almost  a  complete  change  in  the  old 
college  regime.  Inasmuch  as  this  movement 
originated  with  and  was  initiated  by  the  stu- 
dents, and  by  them  carried  to  a  successful 
completion,  it  furnishes  the  most  interesting 
incident  of  college  religious  life  down  to  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  a 
very  remarkable  evolution,  worthy  of  the  most 
careful  consideration. 

Curiously  enough,  one  of  the  most  saintly  of 
American  college  students  is  the  first  to  give 
decided  public  expression  to  this  new  student 
sentiment.  He  is  expelled  from  the  college, 
but  a  new  era  of  religious  life  among  college 
students  is  begun.  One  of  the  best  accredited 
historians  of  Yale  thus  speaks  of  the  incident : 
"The  student  protest,  which  first  came  into 
prominence  at  the  time  of  the  expulsion  of 
David  Brainerd  in  1741,  was  the  demand  of 
Yale  men  to  be  allowed  to  think  and  act  in 
religious  matters  for  themselves.  It  was  the 
beginning  of   what  is  known  to-day  as  the 


36      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

'  Student  Movement.'  The  story  of  Brain- 
ei'd's  expulsion  is  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  in  Yale's  religious  history.  Brainerd 
had  first  been  recognized  as  a  student  in  the 
spiritual  awakening  of  the  preceding  year. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  depth  of  feeling  and 
absolute  frankness.  During  the  revival,  he 
had  visited  many  members  of  the  college 
without  regard  to  class  lines,  and  talked  with 
them  on  religious  matters.  On  one  occasion 
he  writes  in  his  diary  :  '  Sundr}^  passages  of 
God's  Word  opened  to  my  soul  with  divine 
clearness,  power  and  sweetness,  so  as  to  appear 
exceeding  precious,  and  with  clear  and  certain 
evidence  of  its  being  the  word  of  God.'  It 
was  not  unnatural  that  he  should  desire  to 
share  these  discoveries  with  others.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  Brainerd  was  an  older 
man  than  most  of  his  associates.  He  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age  when  he  entered 
Yale,  only  slightly  younger  than  the  tutors  of 
the  teaching  staff.  He  had  seen  the  possibili- 
ties of  a  young  man's  work  in  the  evangelism 
of  Whitefield,  who  was  but  five  3^ears  his 
senior.  He  naturally  chafed  under  the  relig- 
ious restraints  which  were  placed  upon  him  by 
Tutor  Clap  and  his  youthful  associates.  His 
maturity,  his  deep  spiritual  experience,  his 
high  scholarship,  and  his  loving  nature  made 
him  at  once  the  student  leader  in  the  protest 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     37 

which  all  his  college  mates  felt  but  dared  not 
express."  * 

In  those  early  days  there  was  almost  abso- 
lutely no  practical  Christian  work  by  the  young 
men  for  the  young  men  in  college.  In  Brain- 
erd  we  find  one  student  working  for  others. 
In  him  we  find  independent  study  and  medita- 
tion on  the  Word  of  God,  a  prophecy  of  the 
modern  Bible-class  work.  Through  Brainerd 
the  student  body  expressed  its  spiritual  inde- 
pendence. It  was  the  outbreaking  of  the  re- 
ligious evolution  through  the  hard  crust  of  con- 
ventional college  usage  and  precedent.  We  do 
not  pronounce  on  the  merits  or  the  demerits  of 
Brainerd's  expulsion,  for  the  movement  is  vastly 
more  interesting  and  important  than  the  indi- 
vidual. With  some  there  may  be  a  question 
whether  this  evolution  wrought  a  blessing  to 
the  undergraduates,  but  we  record  the  fact, 
which  has  not,  we  believe,  received  anything 
like  its  due  consideration,  and  express  our 
humble  opinion  that  it  was  the  work  of  God. 

The  establishment  of  Yale  College  Church, 
in  1756,  was  a  unique  departure  from  the  well 
defined  relation  of  the  colleges  to  the  churches, 
and  met  with  the  most  vigorous  opposition. 
It  also  indicated  a  very  marked  change  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  college,  recognized  by  the 
faculty  as  well  as  the  students.  Out  of  the 
*  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  pp.  25,  26. 


38      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

establishment  of  the  church  an  extensive  re- 
vival grew.  While  centering  our  thought  pur- 
posely upon  Yale  as  affording  the  best  illustra- 
tion of  the  momentous  religious  evolution 
among  the  students,  we  are  not  unmindful  of 
the  fact  that  a  similar  spirit  permeated  all  the 
other  colleges,  in  most  cases,  however,  not  so 
marked,  for  the  peculiar  external  circumstances 
and  the  vigorous  internal  conditions  were  else- 
where wanting. 

In  Princeton,  this  period  was  signalized  by 
rather  remarkable  seasons  of  spiritual  awaken- 
ing. In  1746,  the  very  year  the  college  was 
established,  and  in  1757  and  1762,  the  college 
was  moved  by  revival  interest.  In  the  year 
1757  the  Kev.  Samuel  Davies  writing  to  a 
friend  in  England  says :  "  The  best  news  that 
perhaps  I  ever  heard  in  my  life,  I  received 
from  my  friend  Mr.  Samuel  Finley,  minister  of 
Nottingham,  in  Pennsylvania,  tutor  of  a  large 
academy,  and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege of  E'ew  Jersey.  I  had  sent  him  some  ex- 
tracts of  my  British  letters  giving  an  account 
of  the  revivals  of  religion  in  sundry  parts  of 
England,  particularly  among  the  clergy.  In 
answer  he  writes,  *  I  greatly  rejoice  that  our 
Lord  Jesus  has  put  it  in  my  power  to  make  you 
a  large  compensation  for  the  good  news  you 
sent  me.  God  has  done  great  things  for  us. 
Our  glorious  redeemer  has  poured  out  his  Holy 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     39 

Spirit  upon  the  students  of  our  college  and  not 
one  of  all  present  neglected  and  they  were  in 
number  sixty.'  "  At  the  close  of  his  letter  Mr. 
Davies  remarks,  "  though  the  college  was  well 
founded  and  well  conducted,  yet  I  must  own,  I 
was  often  afraid  it  was  degenerating  into  a 
college  of  mere  learning.  But  now  my  fears 
are  removed  by  the  prospect  that  sincere  piety 
and  grand  ministerial  qualifications  will  make 
them  equal."  ^ 

Of  the  latter  revival  in  1762,  Dr.  John 
WoodhuU  writes  :  ''  The  number  of  students 
in  college  at  this  time  was  about  one  hundred. 
Thirty  commenced  in  the  class  before  mine 
and  the  same  number  in  the  class  to  which  I 
belonged.  These  were  the  largest  classes 
which  had  ever  commenced  at  that  time.  My 
class  lost  a  good  many  from  the  time  we  en- 
tered freshmen  to  the  time  we  commenced, 
say  thirteen  or  fourteen,  yet  none  by  expul- 
sion. As  to  revivals  of  religion,  there  were 
some  partial  ones  in  college  before  Dr.  Finley's 
time,  but  in  his  time  there  was  something  gen- 
eral. It  began  in  1762,  in  the  freshman  class 
to  which  I  then  belonged.  It  was  a  pretty 
large  class  containing  between  twenty -five  and 
thirty  members.  Almost  as  soon  as  the  ses- 
sion commenced,  this  class  met  once  in  the 
week  for  prayer.  One  of  the  members  became 
^  Dr.  Maclean's  Inaugural  Address,  p.  25. 


40      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

deeply  impressed  and  this  affected  the  whole 
class.  The  other  classes  and  the  whole  college 
became  impressed.  Every  class  became  a 
prayer  society  and  the  whole  college  met  once 
a  week  for  prayer.  There  was  likewise  a 
small  select  society.  Societies  were  also  held 
by  the  students  in  the  town  and  in  the  country. 
I  suppose  there  was  not  one  that  belonged  to 
the  college  but  was  affected  more  or  less.  The 
work  continued  about  one  year.  Fifteen,  or 
about  one-half  of  my  class  were  supposed  to  be 
pious,  and  in  the  college  about  fifty  or  nearly 
half  of  the  whole  number  of  the  students."  ^ 

It  is  noteworthy  that  this  revival,  of  which 
nearly  all  the  Princeton  historians  enthusias- 
tically speak,  enlisted,  after  all,  only  about 
fifty  per  cent,  of  the  students  as  believers. 
What,  then,  must  have  been  the  condition  in 
Princeton  before  this  revival  and  in  other  col- 
leges in  the  times  of  spiritual  declension,  where 
circumstances  were  decidedly  adverse  to  relig- 
ious interest  ? 

In  concluding  the  consideration  of  this  first 
period  I  quote  the  excellent  statement  of  H.  B. 
Wright  concerning  Yale,  which  shall  serve  us 
the  double  purpose  of  summarizing  the  relig- 
ious movement  in  all  the  colleges  as  well  as  at 
Yale,  and  at  the  same  time  fittingly  introduce 
us  to  the  following  period : 

»  Life  of  Ashbel  Green,  p.  377. 


The  Sovereignty  of  the  Ecclesiastic     41 

"  In  the  first  period  of  Yale's  religious  his- 
tory, from  the  founding  of  the  collegiate  school 
with  Eector  Pierson  at  its  head  to  the  accession 
of  Mr.  Clap,  student  initiative  had  played  no 
part.  In  the  second  period,  which  embraced 
the  great  revival  under  Whitefield  and  the 
years  immediately  following  until  the  close  of 
President  Clap's  administration,  the  students, 
after  a  protracted  struggle,  gained  a  degree  of 
individual  freedom  in  religious  matters;  and 
faculty  autocracy  gave  way  to  faculty  super- 
vision. In  the  third  period  now  before  us, 
which  includes  the  dark  and  exciting  days  of 
the  Kevolutionary  War  and  the  closing  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  singularly  enough 
the  pendulum  swung  to  the  extreme.  Faculty 
supervision,  always  essential  in  student  relig- 
ious life,  gave  way  almost  entirely  to  student 
religious  liberty,  which  devoid  of  the  necessary 
restraining  influences  became  license.  These 
were  the  years  when,  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
religious  and  political  movements  of  the  da}^ 
making  for  freedom,  all  men  thought.  Free 
thought  raised  doubt,  and  doubt,  undirected 
and  left  to  run  its  course,  produced  infidelity."  ^ 

*  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  pp.  39.  40. 


THE    SPIEITUAL    EBB-TIDE,  OE   THE 
PERIOD  OF  THE  REVOLU- 
TION 1770-1795 


'*  There  was  no  time  to  spare  for  listening  to  academic  dis- 
plays, to  the  metaphysical  discussions,  or  the  learned  con- 
tests of  youthful  students.  Nothing  was  interesting  but  the 
stern  encounter  of  men  with  men,  the  practical  logic  of  the 
court  room,  the  glowing  eloquence  of  Faneuil  Hall,  or  the 
intense  excitement  of  the  battle." 

"  No  youth  has  been  more  eager  than  the  college  youth  to 
doff  the  student's  gown  and  to  don  the  soldier's  uniform.  It 
has  been  said  except  for  Harvard  College,  the  Revolution 
would  have  been  put  off  half  a  century.  Of  the  great  war 
no  stories  are  more  moving,  no  tales  of  valor  more  splendid 
than  those  told  of  the  college  boys  who  became  soldiers." — 
C.  F.  Thwing,  American  College  in  American  Life  (p.  62). 


CHAPTEK  III 

THE  SPIRITUAL  EBB-TIDE,  OR  THE  PERIOD 
OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  above  title  is  explanatory  and  inter- 
pretative of  the  period  in  two  respects.  The 
American  Revolution,  with  its  absorbing  inter- 
est and  its  mighty  influences,  left  its  indelible 
stamp  on  the  student  life  in  the  colleges,  and 
among  the  students  there  was  the  religious  evo- 
lution, already  noted,  which  led  to  spiritual 
revolution. 

Just  emancipated  from,  or  in  the  process  of 
breaking  loose  from  the  strictest  tutelage  of 
official  authority  in  the  college,  the  undergrad- 
uate was  peculiarly  ill-prepared  to  resist  the 
incoming  tide  of  French  infidelity.  It  would 
be  much  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  the  re- 
ligious sentiment  of  the  average  college  student 
rather  welcomed  the  attractive  skepticism.  It 
was  well-nigh  inevitable  that  the  motives  which 
led  to  the  struggle  for  political  independence 
should  severely  tax  the  stabilitj^  of  belief  in  the 
established  faith.  Had  there  been  no  other 
causes  for  religious  disturbance  than  those 
45 


46      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

which  war  always  engenders,  there  would  have 
been  a  widespread  religious  declension.  But 
the  peculiar  character  of  the  struggle  added 
materially  to  the  general  destructive  and  un- 
settling nature  of  war.  From  the  independ- 
ency of  the  English  political  yoke,  the  step 
was  short  and  easy  to  a  separation  from  re- 
ligious restriction  and  authority.  The  issue  of 
the  Kevolution  was  of  such  vital  and  absorb- 
ing interest  that  it  overshadowed,  for  the  time, 
everything  else.  But,  unfortunately,  just  when 
the  young  men  were  religiously  most  off  guard, 
and  most  painfully  sensitive  to  restrictions  of 
every  character,  French  infidelity  made  its  ap- 
pearance. There  could  hardl}^  have  been  a 
more  favorable  soil  for  the  seeds  of  skepticism. 
The  seed  was  faithfully  scattered,  of  this  there 
is  no  doubt,  and  all  too  soon  were  apparent  the 
first-fruits  of  the  ingathering  of  an  enormous 
harvest  of  infidelity.  On  the  colleges  the 
effect  was  quicker,  more  decisive,  more  disas- 
trous than  elsewhere.  As  we  have  already 
noticed,  circumstances  seem  to  have  fertilized 
the  soil  for  this  seed  of  skepticism.  The  stu- 
dents were  chafing  under  the  religious  restric- 
tions of  the  colleges  and  were  becoming  de- 
cidedly independent,  and  meanwhile  they  were 
about  as  ill-prepared  for  the  prize  they  so  ar- 
dently coveted  as  the  freedmen  of  the  South,  a 
century  later,  for  the  free  ballot. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  47 

For  a  decade  there  was  the  most  serious  in- 
terruption of  routine  work  in  the  colleges. 
Some  of  the  smaller  ones  were  almost  student- 
less  and  all  suffered  great  reduction  in  num- 
bers. From  these  institutions  of  learning  came 
some  of  the  earliest  volunteers,  of  whom  not  a 
few  brought  renown  to  their  colleges  by  the 
courage  and  efficiency  of  their  service  in  the 
field,  and  returned  with  distinguished  honors 
or  sealed  their  loyalty  with  their  blood.  But 
when  the  dust  and  smoke  of  war  slowly  lifted, 
and  the  youthful  veterans  again  sought  the 
farm,  shop,  store,  college  and  the  home,  then 
came  a  terrible  revelation  to  the  Church.  In- 
temperance and  kindred  vices  had  a  powerful 
grip  on  the  young  manhood  of  the  nation ; 
the  old  religious  faith  had  been  well-nigh  dis- 
sipated, and  in  lieu  thereof  there  was  secret  in- 
fidelity, or  its  open  avowal.  Moral  and  re- 
ligious life  in  the  college,  as  everywhere,  was 
in  a  deplorably  demoralized  condition,  but  in 
the  colleges  it  was  more  marked  than  else- 
where. 

We  would  not  convey  the  impression  that 
religion  had  died  out,  for  the  small  and  perse- 
cuted minority  were  of  the  heroic  type  who 
dared  to  stand  alone  with  Christ  against  the 
whole  student  world.  Here  and  there  investi- 
gation uncovers  personal  incidents  which 
clearly  indicate  that  the  spirit  of  Brainerd  and 


48      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

his  compatriots  was  a  very  lively  and  emphatic 
reminder  of  the  best  things  of  the  past  and  also 
the  promise  of  the  better  things  to  come. 
Though  under  painful  restrictions,  personal 
work  was  patiently  and  persistently  followed. 
Again  and  again  the  religious  zeal,  like  a  half- 
smothered  fire,  broke  forth  in  revival  interest. 
But  all  too  soon  the  spiritual  ardor  was  damp- 
ened, and  the  dead  ashes  of  infidelity  covered 
and  hid  the  living  embers. 

The  religious  life  of  this  period  failed  to 
register  itself  in  external  forms,  in  facts  and 
figures  of  a  decisive  nature.  From  a  wide 
reading  we  find  some  facts,  however,  which 
have  made  the  quest  most  rewarding.  Inas- 
much as  these  statements  refer  to  those 
colleges  in  which  the  religious  life  was  most 
pronounced,  we  are  able  to  draw  a  logical 
inference  concerning  the  religious  life  of  all 
the  colleges  for  the  twenty-five  years  under 
consideration,  and  by  these  results  we  may 
safely  estimate  the  spiritual  status  of  the  men 
of  the  nation. 

Of  Harvard  we  find  little  save  of  the  most 
desultory  character.  But  from  what  we  do 
know  we  have  no  hesitation  in  afiirming  that 
the  religious  life  sank  lower  than  in  the  other 
'New  England  colleges ;  and  with  good  reason, 
for  Harvard  was  becoming  more  and  more  the 
ecclesiastical  bone  of  contention  between  two 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  49 

powerful  factions  of  Congregationalism,  "  the 
settled  order  "  of  the  New  England  churches. 
This,  unfortunately,  added  to  the  general  de- 
moralizing and  disintegrating  forces  of  the 
Eevolutionary  period,  and  left  its  deep  and 
baneful  impression  on  the  spiritual  affairs  of 
the  college. 

Yale,  together  with  the  other  New  England 
colleges,  though  some  distance  removed  from 
the  storm-center  of  the  infidel  movement,  was 
nevertheless  powerfully  affected  by  it.  The 
war  had  made  a  heavy  draft  upon  her  students. 
The  intense  excitement  dominated  the  thought 
and  the  life  of  all.  The  student  uprising, 
which  began  thirty  years  before,  as  already 
noted,  had  steadily  gained  momentum  and 
power.  Through  this  period  and  for  a  decade 
later  two  distinct  currents  of  religious  thought 
and  interest  are  easily  discernible.  The  same 
general  motive  impelled  each,  the  spiritual 
independence  of  the  undergraduate  ;  but  the 
movements  were  totally  unlike  in  other  re- 
spects. The  one  gained  strength,  till  it  seemed 
to  sweep  everything  before  it,  and  rose  in  a 
mighty  tidal  wave  of  infidelity.  The  other, 
almost  unobserved,  certainly  unobtrusive  at 
first,  though  exceedingly  vigorous,  seems  to 
have  been  submerged  by  the  flood-tide  of  the 
opposing  current.  The  former  reached  its 
height   just   at   the   dawn   of   the  nineteenth 


50      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

century,  and  then  suddenly  subsided.  The 
other,  like  an  underground  stream  whose  cur- 
rent can  be  heard  by  those  who  hearken  for  it, 
broke  forth  at  length  in  the  great  college 
revival  of  1802,  and  was  then  partially  hidden, 
again  to  reappear  in  the  full  open  in  the  third 
and  fourth  decades  of  the  century.  The  latter 
in  its  well-worn  channel  determined  the  trend 
of  religious  life  in  the  colleges  of  to-day. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  threatened 
invasion  of  New  Haven  by  the  British  made 
it  expedient  to  separate  the  classes  and  for 
college  purposes  to  seek  the  quiet  and  the 
safety  of  the  near-by  villages.  The  young 
men  of  ambition,  sterling  worth  and  greatest 
native  ability  very  naturally  enlisted  in  the 
Continental  troops  and  threw  themselves  body 
and  soul  into  the  struggle  for  independence. 
Consequently  the  college  not  only  lost  the 
force  of  their  influence,  but  their  places  were 
filled  by  those  of  weaker  patriotism  and  lower 
ideals,  some  of  whom  doubtless  sought  the 
college  as  an  escape  from  military  service. 
Eeligiously,  college  affairs  were  in  a  very  low 
state.  Dr.  Tyler,  writing  fifty  years  ago,  says : 
"  A  surviving  member  of  the  class  of  1783 
[Eev.  Pay  son  Willis  ton,  of  Easthampton], 
remembers  only  three  professors  of  religion  in 
the  class  of  1782,  and  only  three  or  four  each 
in  several  of   the  preceding  classes.     In  his 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  51 

own  class,  which  was  blessed  with  a  revival, 
there  were  eleven."  ^ 

The  revival  above  mentioned  is  a  spiritual 
oasis  in  a  desert  of  religious  indifference.  In 
the  spring  of  1783  there  occurred  at  Yale  a 
religious  awakening  which  brought  into  the 
ranks  of  the  college  church  more  accessions 
than  at  any  time  before  in  its  history.  The 
human  instrumentality,  which  most  effectually 
offset  the  skeptical  influence,  and  which  ush- 
ered in  the  revival  interest,  was  the  talented 
and  eloquent  professor  of  divinity.  Rev.  Dr. 
Wales,  who  had  been  installed  the  preceding 
June.  His  influence  was  unfortunatel}^  of 
brief  duration,  for  impaired  health  soon  com- 
pelled his  retirement  from  the  arduous  duties 
of  the  college  pastorate. 

For  a  score  of  years  after  this  fruitful  relig- 
ious awakening,  the  spiritual  life  of  Yale 
passed  into  a  comatose  condition  almost  unre- 
lieved or  unaroused  till  the  great  revival  of 
1802.  On  the  withdrawal  of  Dr.  Wales,  Yale 
lacked  dominant  religious  leadership,  and  of- 
fered little  to  stimulate  the  individual  religious 
life.  "  French  infidelity,  which  had  swept  the 
country  at  large  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
enthroned  intemperance,  dueling  and  suicide ; 
but  especially  immorality  and  the  violation  of 
the  sacredness  of  all  ties  between  man  and 

1  Prayer  for  Colleges,  Dr.  W.  S.  Tyler,  p.  147. 


52      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

woman  gained  a  foothold  at  Yale.  It  had  be- 
come the  fashion  of  young  men  who  made  any 
pretence  at  education  to  scoff  at  the  forms  of 
religion  as  the  '  shackles  of  superstition.' "  ^ 
Professor  Goodrich,  writing  in  1837,  declares: 
"  The  infection  of  the  French  Revolution  had 
spread  across  the  Atlantic ;  the  public  mind 
had  been  more  unsettled  on  religious  subjects 
than  at  any  former  period;  and  the  young 
men,  especially,  thought  it  a  lack  of  spirit  not 
to  call  in  question  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel,  if  not  the  truths  of  Christianity  itself. 
Hence  the  religious  state  of  the  college  was 
extremely  low  at  the  close  of  Dr.  Stiles's 
presidency  in  1795."  ^ 

At  Dartmouth  the  condition  was  no  better. 
Apparently,  religious  indifference  gained  a  hold 
on  the  college  somewhat  later,  but  it  continued 
much  longer.  Founded  in  the  year  1770,  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  period  under  con- 
sideration, with  a  very  decided  religious  pur- 
pose and  marked  by  an  intense  zeal  for  mission 
work  among  the  Indians,  the  early  days  of  the 
college  were  characteristically  religious.  ISTo 
small  portion  of  the  means  for  its  establish- 

^  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  p.  46.  This 
citation  is  made  from  one  of  Yale's  own  historians,  since 
so  many  have  questioned  the  influence  of  infidelity  upon  the 
New  England  colleges. 

2  Quarterly  Register,  1838,  p.  289. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  53 

ment  was  secured  abroad  by  that  most  inter- 
esting Mohegan  Indian,  Samson  Occom,  who 
had  been  converted  and  educated  by  Rev. 
Eleazar  Wheelock,  the  founder  of  the  college. 
This  simple  incident  is  indicative  of  the  spirit 
which  led  to  the  founding  of  the  institution. 

For  the'first  decade  there  was  a  constant  re- 
vival interest,  reaching  its  height  in  1Y71  and 
1774-1775.  Another  very  extensive  spiritual 
quickening  refreshed  the  college  in  1781.  The 
interest  then  gradually  deepened  till  almost  all 
of  the  college  was  affected,  and  from  the  col- 
lege reached  the  villages  for  a  radius  of  twenty 
miles  around.  Seven  years  later  there  was 
another  period  of  interest  of  short  duration 
and  apparently  not  far-reaching  in  its  influ- 
ence. In  Sprague's  sketch  of  Eev.  Ethan 
Smith  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  religious  life 
about  the  time  of  this  last  revival :  "  Having 
gone  through  his  preparatory  course,  he  en- 
tered Dartmouth  College  in  1786.  He  found 
but  little  of  the  spirit  of  religion  there :  but 
there  were  still  a  few,  who  were  alive  to  Chris- 
tian obligation,  with  whom  he  was  accustomed 
to  take  sweet  council."  ^  From  this  time  for  a 
space  of  seventeen  years,  judging  from  the  in- 
formation at  hand,  the  religious  interest  sank 
to  the  lowest  ebb. 

At  Princeton  the  religious  life  was  exceed- 

*  Annals  of  tbe  American  Pulpit,  Sprague,  p.  297. 


54      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

ingly  weak.  Situated  so  near  the  storm-center 
of  the  war,  this  flourishing  institution  was 
well-nigh  uprooted.  The  college  edifice  served 
as  barracks  for  both  British  and  American 
troops  in  turn,  and  the  college  exercises  were 
wholly  suspended  for  three  years.  When  the 
college  was  reopening  in  1780,  the  sad  discov- 
ery was  made  that  French  infidelity  had  won 
the  attention  and  respect  of  most  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  had  almost  entirely  dissipated  inter- 
est and  faith  in  evangelical  truth.  Dr.  Bacon, 
speaking  of  the  wide-spread  religious  indiffer- 
ence in  college,  says  :  "  In  the  Middle  States 
the  aspect  was  not  more  promising.  Princeton 
had  been  closed  for  three  years  of  the  Kevolu- 
tionary  War.  In  1782  there  were  only  two 
among  the  students  who  professed  themselves 
Christians."^  From  Jones'  Life  of  Ashbel 
Green  there  is  given  a  very  significant  glimpse 
of  the  religious  life  in  the  middle  of  this 
period :  ''  My  father  told  me  that  as  I  was  go- 
ing to  college  that  it  would  be  the  most  proper 
place  for  me  to  make  a  public  profession  of  re- 
ligion and  would  put  my  sincerit}^  to  a  better 
test  than  if  he  should  receive  me  into  his 
church.  It  was  accordingly  in  my  senior  year 
in  college  (1783)  that  I  was  admitted  to  the 
full  communion  of  the  church.  After  this, 
and  while  I  was  yet  a  student,  I  on  several  oc- 
'  American  Christianity,  Leonard  Woolsey  Bacon,  p.  231. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  cc 

casions,  in  the  absence  of  our  single  tutor, 
performed  the  morning  service  in  the  chapel. 
This  I  did  at  the  earnest  request  of  Dr.  Smith 
whose  feeble  health  forbade  him  to  rise  at  so 
early  an  hour  as  five  o'clock,  the  hour  at  which 
morning  prayers  in  college  were  then  cele- 
brated, in  winter  as  well  as  summer.  My 
fellow  students  in  the  absence  of  all  authority 
seemed  to  make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  behave 
with  strict  decorum.  I  fear  that  there  was 
little  of  better  or  higher  motives,  for  I  was  at 
that  time  (1783)  the  only  professor  of  religion 
among  them  and  a  number  of  them  were 
grossly  profane."^  Again  he  says:  "There 
were  not  more  than  five  or  six  who  scrupled  to 
use  profane  language  in  common  conversa- 
tion."^ So  far  as  the  writer  can  ascertain, 
there  was  no  marked  religious  awakening  for 
the  forty  years  from  1770  to  1810.  During 
this  time,  while  those,  most  interested  in  the 
school  were  anxiously  watching  for  any  en- 
couraging signs  of  spiritual  quickening,  and 
made  public  all  such  indications,  the  very  si- 
lence of  these  years  respecting  spiritual  mat- 
ters may  be  taken  as  prima  facie  evidence  of  a 
most  disheartening  condition  of  affairs.  There 
seems  to  be  no  question  that  the  religious  life 
of  the  students  was  deplorably  weak. 

>  Jones'  Life  of  Ashbel  Green,  pp.  132,  133. 

"^  Dorchester's  Christianity  in  the  United  States,  p.  287. 


56      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

In  Hampden  Sydney  College,  religion  was  at 
ebb-tide  for  a  number  of  years  before  the  great 
revival  of  1787.  "  The  state  of  things  in  col- 
lege during  1787  was  peculiarly  interesting : 
the  flax  was  smoking,  and  soon  burnt  into  a 
flame.  While  a  few  children  of  pious  parents 
treated  the  subject  of  religion  respectfully,  yet 
of  all  the  students  in  college,  about  eighty  in 
number,  there  was  not  one  who  was  known  to 
be  any  way  serious  and  thoughtful  upon  the 
subject  of  religion.  They  were  generally  very 
vicious  and  profane  and  treated  religion  and 
religious  persons  with  great  contempt ;  though 
attentive  to  their  studies  and  the  acquaintance 
of  knowledge."  ^ 

The  religious  life  in  Hampden  Sydney  Col- 
lege is  pictured  in  strong  colors  by  Sprague  in 
his  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  William  Hill : 
"In  1785,  he  entered  Hampden  Sydney  Col- 
lege, then  under  the  presidency  of  the  Eev. 
John  Blair  Smith.  So  low  was  the  state  of  relig- 
ion in  the  college  at  that  time,  that  there  was  not 
a  student  who  evinced  any  regard  for  it,  nor 
one  who  was  known  to  possess  a  Bible.  Dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  his  collegiate  course,  he 
endeavored  to  banish  all  thoughts  of  religion, 
and  indulged  in  the  vices  common  to  his  un- 
godly associates ;   but  even  then  he  had  his 

*  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Foote,  D.  D.,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  Vol.  1, 
p.  413. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  57 

moments  of  reflection,  when  he  was  haunted 
by  the  remembrance  of  his  mother's  counsels 
and  praj^ers.  Nearly  two  years  elapsed,  after 
he  entered  college,  before  his  character  seemed 
to  undergo  a  radical  change.  After  his  mind 
had,  for  some  time,  been  turned  inward  upon 
itself  in  silent  and  anxious  thought,  he  retired 
to  a  secluded  spot,  where  he  gave  vent  to  the 
agony  of  his  spirit  in  earnest  cries  for  the  di- 
vine mercy,  and  was  enabled,  as  he  believed,  to 
dev^ote  himself  without  reserve  to  the  service 
of  God.  Shortly  after,  two  other  young  men 
connected  with  the  college  experienced  a  simi- 
lar change  of  views  and  feelings,  and  associated 
themselves  with  him  in  a  private  devotional 
service,  which,  as  it  became  known,  excited  the 
most  bitter  opposition  from  their  fellow  stu- 
dents, and  even  drew  forth  threats  of  venge- 
ance, unless  it  was  discontinued.  This  brought 
the  matter  to  the  ears  of  the  president,  who 
assured  them  not  only  that  they  should  be 
protected  in  their  rights,  but  that  they  should 
have  the  privilege  of  holding  their  meeting  in 
his  parlor,  and  that  he  would  himself  be  pres- 
ent and  assist  in  conducting  it.  A  revival  now 
commenced,  which  soon  included  among  its 
subjects  half  of  the  students  in  the  college. 
The  revival  extended  into  neighboring  churches 
and  then  into  those  which  were  more  remote, 
and  was  more  extensive  and  powerful  than  had 


58      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

been  experienced  in  Virginia  since  the  days  of 
President  Davies."  ^ 

In  singular  confirmation  of  the  statements 
just  made,  and  as  a  possible  and  probable 
reference  to  the  two  students  mentioned, 
another  citation  is  made  from  Sprague 
respecting  the  religious  experience  of  Dr. 
James  Blythe  who  entered  Hampden  Sydney 
in  1785 :  "  He  was  a  professor  of  religion 
before  he  went  to  college.  So  adverse  to 
the  culture  of  the  spiritual  mind  were  all  the 
influences  by  which  he  was  then  surrounded 
that  he  cut  loose  from  the  restraints  of  a  Chris- 
tian profession,  and  passed  among  his  gay  as- 
sociates for  a  thorough  devotee  to  worldly 
vanities.  It  was  a  singular  circumstance  by 
which  he  was  brought  to  reflection,  and  recov- 
ered from  his  wanderings.  A  student  in  col- 
lege with  whom  he  was  intimate  and  whom  he 
had  known  as  a  companion  in  levity  and  sin, 
had  become  deeply  impressed  with  the  impor- 
tance of  religion,  and  had  shut  himself  up  in 
his  room  for  the  purpose  of  reading  his  Bible, 
and  supplicating  the  renewing  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  While  he  was  thus  engaged  in 
these  secret  exercises,  young  Blythe  came  to 
the  door  and  knocked,  and  as  he  received  no 
answer,  he  continued  knocking,  and  with  so 
much  violence  that  his  comrade  within  feared 

*  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  Vol.  3,  pp.  563,  564. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  59 

that  the  door  would  be  forced  open ;  and  there- 
fore, he  unlocked  it,  and  let  him  in.  As  he 
entered  the  room  he  took  up  a  book  which  lay 
upon  the  bed,  and  found  that  it  was  the  Bible. 
'  Do  you  read  such  a  book  as  this  ? '  was 
Blythe's  inquiry.  His  friend  was  strongly 
tempted  for  the  moment  to  conceal  his  convic- 
tion, and  to  turn  the  whole  into  ridicule  ;  but 
he  summoned  resolution  to  acknowledge  the 
truth,  which  was  that  his  conscience  was 
heavily  burdened  with  a  sense  of  his  sinfulness. 
Blythe  burst  into  tears,  and  told  him  that 
there  was  much  more  hope  for  him  than  for 
himself  ;  for  that  he  had  been,  for  some  time, 
a  professor  of  religion,  and  had  been  living  in 
open  violation  of  his  Christian  obligations. 
From  that  time,  however,  Blythe  broke  away 
from  the  influences  which  had  ensnared  him, 
and  engaged  heartily  and  efficiently  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  various  Christian  duties ;  and  this 
event  marked  the  commencement  of  an  exten- 
sive revival  of  religion."  ^ 

Chancellor  Kent  (1765-1847)  who  was  gradu- 
ated from  Yale  in  1781,  and  who  was  for  years 
an  instructor  in  Columbia  College,  said  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life :  "  In  my  younger 
days  there  were  very  few  professional  men 
that  were  not  infidels ;  or  at  least  they 
were  so  inclined  to  infidelity  that  they  could 

'  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  pp.  591-594. 


6o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

not  be  called  believers  in  the  truth  of  the 
Bible." ' 

Sufficient  evidence  has  been  presented  to 
show  quite  conclusively  the  extremely  low 
state  of  religion  in  the  various  colleges  of  the 
country.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  period 
there  were  several  religious  awakenings  which 
have  already  been  indicated,  but  these  periods 
of  interest  became  less  frequent,  of  shorter 
duration,  and  less  extensive.  It  is  noteworthy 
that,  in  those  rare  instances  of  special  spiritual 
quickening  in  a  few  institutions  of  which  so 
much  has  been  written,  no  more  of  the  stu- 
dents were  reached  than  the  average  number 
of  Christians  in  all  the  colleges  in  our  own 
time.  It  was  considered  most  remarkable  if 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  one- 
half  of  the  students  in  one  of  these  signally 
blessed  colleges  became  professing  Christians. 
This  by  contrast  throws  much  light  on  the  or- 
dinary religious  conditions  of  the  colleges.  It 
is  a  reasonable  inference  that  the  spiritual 
affairs  were  in  a  deplorable  condition  in 
those  institutions  which  present  no  records 
of  revival  interest  for  this  period.  The 
religious  trend  for  the  twenty-five  years  con- 
sidered w^as  decidedly  downward.  Where  in- 
fidelity did  not  prevail  there  was  a  lifeless 
indifference  almost  as  bad.     It  is  our  impres- 

^  Trumbull's  Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday-School,  p.  167. 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  61 

sion  that,  were  the  conditions  thoroughly  un- 
derstood, the  picture  would  be  darker  than  we 
have  shown  by  the  facts  and  figures  presented. 

There  were  other  colleges  concerning  which 
no  facts  worthy  of  record  have  been  found. 
In  respect  to  the  religious  life  in  these  it  is  re- 
peatedly said,  "  The  conditions  were  no  better," 
"  The  state  of  religion  was  deplorably  low,"  or, 
"  The  school  was  given  up  to  infidelity,"  or 
similar  generalizations  of  little  absolute  value 
save  only  as  they  indicate  the  prevalence  of 
skepticism.  The  impression  deepens,  however, 
the  better  one  becomes  acquainted  with  the 
histories  of  these  institutions,  that  in  them  the 
religious  conditions  were  even  more  adverse  to 
the  higher  spiritual  interests  than  in  the  more 
prosperous  colleges.  Inasmuch  as  there  was 
the  most  intense  desire  for  spiritual  results  in 
the  colleges  and  every  favorable  sign  was  care- 
fully noted  and  widely  proclaimed,  the  natural 
inference  from  the  prolonged  and  painful  sil- 
ence concerning  spiritual  awakening  is  that  the 
religious  life  was  not  only  on  the  ebb-tide,  but 
had  run  exceedingly  low.  It  is  a  well-estab- 
lished fact  that  the  influence  of  infidelity  was 
most  deeply  felt  outside  of  'New  England.  It 
certainly  made  a  most  profound  impression 
upon  the  South. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  investigation  has 
considered  only  the  larger  colleges.     Most  of 


62      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

those  which  have  not  been  examined  were  so 
decidedly  weak  and  small  that  they  would  not 
in  any  case  materially  affect  the  results  already 
obtained. 

All  things  considered,  the  religious  life  in  the 
colleges  for  the  period  under  treatment  was  in 
a  state  of  decided  declension,  here  and  there 
relieved,  it  is  true,  by  gracious  spiritual  re- 
freshings, but  these  become  more  and  more  in- 
frequent as  the  end  of  the  century  draws  near. 
The  deeper  and  more  sympathetic  the  study  of 
the  period  the  stronger  grows  the  conviction 
that  the  real  conditions  were  even  worse  than 
appear  from  the  meager  statements  herein 
presented.  At  the  same  time  the  admiration 
grows  deeper  for  the  few  students  of  heroic 
mold  who  could  not  be  ridiculed  out  of  their 
honest  and  earnest  convictions,  and  who  by 
their  consecration,  perseverance  and  unwaver- 
ing faith  were,  by  the  grace  of  God,  yet  to  win 
the  college  for  Christ  and  his  Church. 

Let  the  reader  not  fail  to  note  that  there  is 
abundance  of  material  to  prove  that  the  relig- 
ious conditions  which  prevailed  among  the  men 
in  the  colleges  but  reflected  the  conditions 
which  obtained  among  the  men  in  the  churches. 
Indeed,  it  would  not  be  diiflcult  to  demonstrate 
with  a  long  array  of  facts  that,  aside  from  ex- 
ceptional communities,  taking  the  country  as  a 
whole,  there  was  more  stolid,  religious  indiffer- 


The  Spiritual  Ebb-Tide  63 

ence,  and  a  more  definite  lack  of  spiritual  sen- 
sitiveness among  the  men  outside  than  inside 
the  college.  The  forms  of  Christianity  may 
have  been  observed  more  submissively,  and  the 
tenets  of  infidelity  less  warmly  welcomed  and 
advocated  by  those  outside  the  college,  but  if, 
according  to  the  Spirit's  message  to  the  church 
of  the  Laodiceans,  lukewarmness  is  more  to  be 
condemned  than  open  opposition,  then  we  be- 
lieve that  the  deadly  indifference  of  the  men  of 
the  churches  outside  the  college  was  farther 
removed  from  spiritual  truth  than  the  more 
conspicuous  infidelity  which  prevailed  among 
the  collegians.  In  any  case,  all  church  histo- 
rians are  agreed  that  the  Eevolutionary  period 
marks  the  ebb-tide  of  American  religious  life. 


THE  KEIGK  OF  INFIDELITY,  OK  THE 

PERIOD  OF  RAPID  DECLENSION 

1795-1800 


**  The  French  Revolution  inspired  the  enemies  of  religion 
for  a  time  with  the  confident  expectations  of  a  speedy  tri- 
umph. The  minds  of  multitudes  were  unsettled,  and  there 
was  a  breaking  away  from  the  old  creeds.  '  Wild  and  vague 
expectations  were  everywhere  entertained,  especially  among 
the  young,  of  a  new  order  of  things  about  to  commence,  in 
which  Christianity  would  be  laid  aside  as  an  obsolete  sys- 
tem.' It  was  confidently  asserted  by  some  that  in  two  gen- 
erations Christianity  would  altogether  disappear.  Such  was 
the  skepticism  that  prevailed  at  the  close  of  the  last  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  present.  The  growth  of  Christian- 
ity in  this  country  since  these  vain  predictions  has  been  the 
most  marvelous  ever  known  in  any  land  or  any  age." — 
Daniel  Dorchester,  D.  D. ,  Cliristianity  in  United  States,  p.  324. 

"The  relations  of  the  Church  and  of  the  college  are  funda- 
mental and  intimate.  In  prosperity  the  one  rises  with  the 
other;  in  adversity  the  one  with  the  other  declines.  If  the 
piety  of  the  Church  is  warm  and  aggressive,  the  college  halls 
will  be  filled  with  throngs  of  young  men  assiduously  devot- 
ing themselves  to  Christian  self-culture.  If  the  piety  of  the 
Church  runs  low,  the  college  will  at  once  feel  the  baneful 
influence  of  religious  indifference.  .  .  .  The  college  and 
the  Church  thus  act  and  react  upon  each  other.  .  .  . 
The  college  fosters  that  wisdom  and  discipline  required  for 
the  efficiency  and  stability  of  the  Church,  the  Church  fosters 
the  material  and  religious  interests  of  the  college.  The 
Church  helps  to  make  the  college,  and  the  college  the 
Church." — President  Charles  F.  Thioing,  Within  College EalU, 
p.  138. 

"  Few  men  abandon  a  life  of  vice  or  begin  a  life  of  virtue 
after  they  reach  twenty -one  years  of  age. ' ' — Horace  Mann. 


CHAPTEE  ly 

THE  RETGN  OF  INFIDELITY,  OR  THE  PE- 
RIOD OF  RAPID  DECLENSION 

OisT  the  one  side  there  is  nothing  to  differ- 
entiate this  period  from  that  which  preceded  it. 
The  same  influences  are  at  work,  but  as  the 
storm-tossed  waves  sometimes  seem  to  gather 
tliemselves  for  one  supreme  effort,  and  carry 
the  debris  farther  inland,  so  the  wave  of  in- 
fidelity rose  higher  in  its  destructive  strength 
and  influence  in  this  period,  and  then  suddenly 
and  somewhat  mysteriously  subsided.  But  the 
storm-cloud  of  skepticism  shadowed  the  land 
for  a  score  of  years  longer  before  its  darkness 
and  force  were  broken.  From  the  viewpoint 
of  external  conditions,  this  is  the  darkest 
period  in  the  religious  annals  of  our  American 
colleges.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the  inner 
spiritual  life  of  the  students,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  it  is  in  nowise  so  dark  and  depress- 
ing as  the  latter  part  of  the  period  preceding. 

We  shall  not  restrict  ourselves  to  the  exact 

time  limit  of  the  period,  but  the  year  1800  has 

been  chosen  for  its  convenience  as  the  time 

which  nearest  approaches  the  average  date  for 

67 


68     The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

the  great  spiritual  awakening  that  began  as 
early  as  1797  in  the  churches,  but  which  did 
not  outwardly  affect  the  colleges  for  four  or 
five  years  later.  It  is  well,  however,  to  bear 
in  mind  that  a  new  religious  spirit  was  work- 
ing powerfully  in  the  colleges  for  nearly  two 
years  before  it  became  externally  apparent. 

In  respect  to  this  period  no  college  has  been 
so  often  or  so  justly  quoted  as  Yale.  If  we 
are  correct  in  our  conclusions,  in  Yale,  more 
than  elsewhere,  may  be  traced  the  evolution  of 
"  The  Student  Movement,"  which  in  our  day 
has  reached  such  dimensions  and  powder.  As 
we  have  already  observed,  two  movements 
with  a  common  initiative  are  discoverable  in 
nearly  all  the  colleges.  The  initiative  was 
spiritual  independence  for  the  undergraduate. 
The  one  movement  was  towards  infidelity,  the 
other  towards  spiritual  fidelity  to  the  great 
ideals  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  former 
showed  itself  in  the  grosser  forms  of  skepti- 
cism, ridicule,  persecution  and  immorality ; 
the  latter  in  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  in  sporadic 
attempts  at  organized  effort,  in  personal  work 
and  strict  morality. 

In  Yale  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse 
till  Dr.  Timothy  D wight  became  president  in 
1Y95.  America  has  produced  no  w^orthier 
champion  of  the  cross.  For  seven  years  the 
fray  was  on,  but  in  the  first  year  infidelity  was 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  69 

conquered  though  not  banished  from  the  field. 
^'  It  seems  probable  that,  during  the  college 
year  1794-95,  the  Christian  life  of  Yale  was  in 
a  most  perilous  condition.  The  students  ex- 
posed to  the  subtle  influences  of  French  infi- 
delity, and  wholly  without  such  restraints  and 
incentives  as  sympathetic  pastoral  guidance 
and  vigorous  appeal  to  the  conscience  from  the 
pulpit,  naturally  found  little  to  enlist  their  in- 
terest in  the  almost  defunct  college  church. 
Among  the  one  hundred,  or  more,  young  men 
enrolled  at  Yale  (actual  number  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five)  certainly  not  more  than  one 
in  ten  openly  professed  religion.  The  prob- 
lems in  the  Christian  life  of  the  student  body 
which  confronted  the  successor  of  President 
Stiles  were,  it  can  thus  be  readily  seen,  grave 
ones.  No  man  of  ordinary  powers  and  faith 
could  have  successfully  met  and  mastered 
them."  1 

There  has  been  so  much  controversy  over 
the  low  state  of  religion  at  Yale  at  this  time, 
and  so  much  interest  centers  in  the  facts,  that 
we  shall  summon  several  witnesses  to  present 
their  individual  testimony.  Professor  Chaun- 
cey  A.  Goodrich,  than  whom  there  is  hardly  a 
better  authority,  writing  in  1838  concerning 
revivals  of  religion  in  Yale,  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement :    "  The  religious  state  of  the 

*  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  p.  51. 


yo      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

college  was  extremely  low  at  the  close  of  Dr. 
Stiles'  presidency  in  1795.  It  is  not  true,  how- 
ever, as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  that  the 
college  church  at  that  time  was  almost  extinct. 
The  names  of  eleven  undergraduates  have  been 
pointed  out  to  me  by  persons  then  in  college, 
who  are  known  to  have  been  professors  of  re- 
ligion in  1795.  About  four  years  later  the 
number  was  reditced  to  four  or  five  y  and  at  one 
communion  only  a  single  undergraduate  was 
present,  the  others  being  out  of  town.  This 
fact  has  given  rise  to  an  erroneous  inference 
that  the  church  at  this  time  contained  only 
a  single  undergraduate."^  From  him,  then, 
we  learn  that  in  1795  there  were  eleven  pro- 
fessors of  religion  and  that  a  few  years  later 
the  number  was  reduced  to  four  or  five.  The 
single  communicant  at  the  Lord's  Supper  has 
no  particular  bearing  on  the  subject,  the  ex- 
planatory note  of  Professor  Goodrich  show- 
ing the  fallacy  of  the  well- worked  myth. 

In  the  Memoir  of  Bennet  Tyler,  D.  D.,  is 
found  this  interesting  semiautobiographical 
statement :  "  He  entered  Yale  College  in  the 
autumn  of  1800.  Some  years  before  that  time 
the  Christian  religion  had  been  a  frequent  sub- 
ject of  ridicule  among  the  undergraduates  ;  in- 
fidelity imported  from  France  had  poisoned 
the  minds  of  many  students,  and  strict  piety 
1  Quarterly  Register,  1838,  p.  289. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  71 

was  generally  looked  upon  as  unfitted  for  the 
freedom  of  youth.  At  one  time,  near  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  there  was  but  one  pro- 
fessor of  religion  in  the  freshman  class,  not  one 
in  the  sophomore,  only  one  in  the  junior,  and 
not  more  than  ten  in  the  senior.  So  far  was 
scoffing  at  sacred  things  carried,  that  on  one 
communion  Sabbath,  some  of  the  students  in 
the  dining-hall  cut  the  bread  in  pieces  to  repre- 
sent the  sacred  emblem  of  Christ's  body,  and 
impiously  offered  it  to  a  solitary  professor  who 
was  dining  with  them ;  intending  thereby  to 
wound  the  feelings  of  the  youth  just  from  the 
table  of  the  Lord.  Though  such  impiety  had 
been  greatly  restrained  at  the  opening  of  the 
century,  yet  the  religious  influence  of  Yale 
was  not  then  positive  and  pervading,  as  after 
the  revival  of  1802."^ 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  is  our  next  witness.  In 
his  autobiography  he  says  :  "  Before  he  came, 
the  college  was  in  a  most  ungodly  state.  The 
college  church  was  almost  extinct.  Most  of 
the  students  were  skeptical,  and  rowdies  w^ere 
plenty.  Wine  and  liquors  were  kept  in  many 
rooms.  Intemperance,  profanity,  gambling, 
and  licentiousness  were  common.  .  .  . 
That  was  the  day  of  the  infidelity  of  the 
Paine  school.     Boys  that  dressed  flax   in  the 

^  Memoir  of  Benuet  Tyler,  D.  D.,  by  Dr.  Nahum  Gale, 
p.  15. 


72      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

barn,  as  I  used  to,  read  Tom  Paine  and  believed 
him.  I  read  and  fought  him  all  the  way.  I 
never  had  any  propensity  to  infidelity.  But 
most  of  the  class  before  me  were  infidels,  and 
called  each  other  Yoltaire,  Kousseau,  D'Alem- 
bert,  etc.,  etc." 

Professor  Williston  Walker  says  :  "  The  first 
labor  of  President  D wight,  when  he  became 
President  of  Yale,  was  to  combat  the  all  but 
universal  infidelity  of  the  students  of  his  new 
charge.  Indeed  so  far  had  the  matter  gone  at 
New  Haven  that  many  of  the  Senior  class  had 
assumed  the  names  of  the  principal  English 
and  French  infidels  and  were  generally  known 
by  these  nicknames  through  the  college."  ^ 
"  In  the  darkest  time,  just  at  the  close  of  the 
century,  there  was  only  about  one  professor 
of  religion  to  a  class."  ^ 

Dr.  Frank  Eussell,  of  the  Bible  IS'ormal  Col- 
lege, Hartford,  Connecticut,  grants  me  per- 
mission to  quote  him  in  this  statement: 
"  When  the  elder  D wight  was  called  to  the 
Presidency  of  Yale,  there  were  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  undergraduates.  Dr.  D wight 
some  time  after  made  a  careful  investigation 
and  could  find  but  two  students  willing  to 
confess  that  they  were  Christians."  This  was 
also  afiirmed  by  Dr.  E.  E".  Kirk  of  Boston  and  by 

^  Ten  New  England  Leaders,  p.  367. 
2  Prayer  for  Colleges,  W.  S.  Tyler,  p.  47. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  73 

many  others  not  given  to  extravagant  expres- 
sions, but  I  have  been  unable  to  verify  it  from 
the  college  records.  The  general  impression  is 
that  the  statement  came  from  President 
D  wight  himself. 

JSTo  more  discriminating  picture  of  the  period 
under  consideration  has  been  drawn  than  that 
by  Ebenezer  Baldwin  :  "  The  establishment  of 
American  independence  had  not  been  effected 
without  the  moral  contamination  always  the 
result  of  protracted  wars.  Licentiousness, 
both  in  conduct  and  sentiment,  had  followed, 
and  in  the  exultation  of  political  emancipation, 
infidel  philosophers  found  ready  listeners, 
when  they  represented  the  restraints  of  re- 
ligion as  fetters  of  conscience,  and  moral  obli- 
gation as  shackles  imposed  by  bigotry  and 
priestcraft.  Dr.  D  wight  adopted  the  most  ef- 
fectual means  to  destroy  these  growing  evils. 
He  permitted  the  class  to  select  the  following 
subject  of  discussion,  'Are  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  the  word  of 
God  ?  '  and  encouraged  them  to  exercise  their 
full  powers  in  a  free  but  decorous  debate  on 
which  side  of  the  question  their  inclination 
would  direct  them  to  engage.  IsTearly  the 
whole  class  of  those  who  took  part  in  the  de- 
bate supported  the  cause  of  infidelity.  After 
their  arguments  were  concluded  the  president 
examined  the  whole  ground,  pointed  out  the 


74      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

fallacy  of  their  reasoning  and  vindicated  in  an 
argument  of  overwhelming  power  and  elo- 
quence the  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
effect  is  described  as  astonishing,  not  only  con- 
viction followed,  but  the  pride  of  the  infidelity 
was  broken."  ^ 

*'The  AVar  of  the  Revolution  had  left  the 
piety  of  the  country  in  a  very  depressed  condi- 
tion. The  shallow  and  contemptuous  infidelity 
of  the  French  school  was  widely  diffused  and 
was  mingled  in  the  cultured  class  with  the  most 
plausible  theories  of  English  deism  and  the 
skeptical  speculation  of  Hume.  Unbelief  had 
become  prevalent  and  respectable  in  college ; 
the  number  of  professing  Christians  had  dwin- 
dled to  eight  or  ten."  ^ 

Possibly  too  much  space  has  been  given  to 
this  gloomy  chapter  of  college  life.  But  the 
conditions  at  Yale  were  characteristic  of  all 
the  colleges  respecting  religious  declension,  and 
yet  they  were  unique,  as  we  shall  immediately 
indicate.  The  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the 
highest  ideals  of  the  Christian  faith  which  we 
have  traced  from  the  days  of  Brainerd  became 
conspicuous  at  the  close  of  the  century.  While 
externally  infidelity  seemed  to  sweep  every- 
thing before  it,  there  was  internally  at  work  a 

^  Annals  of  Yale  College,  Ebenezer  Baldwin,  p,  145, 
'  Fisher's  Commemorative  of  the  Ilistory  of  Christ  Church 
in  Yale  College,  p.  33. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  y^ 

spiritual  force  of  the  most  sterling  and  sturdy 
nature.  A  discovery  of  peculiar  interest  and 
real  importance  was  made  by  Henry  B. 
Wright  in  gathering  the  material  for  "  Two 
Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale." 
The  writer,  searching  the  college  library,  found 
two  dusty,  worn  record  books  whose  stained 
pages  and  ofttimes  well-nigh  illegible  script 
gave  evidence  of  great  age.  They  bore  the 
name  of  the  Kecords  of  the  Moral  Society. 
This  organization,  founded  April  6,  1797,  in- 
cluded twenty-five  charter  members — four 
sophomores,  six  juniors,  twelve  seniors  and  three 
post-graduates.  No  member  of  the  faculty  or 
any  of  the  tutors  were  concerned  with  its  con- 
ception, or  were  associated  with  the  organiza- 
tion for  eighteen  years.  This  society  seems  to 
merit  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  success- 
ful organization  of  undergraduates  for  definite 
moral  and  religious  purposes. 

The  society  was  -secret,  and  the  following 
vow  was  taken  on  initiation :  * '  You,  and  each  of 
you,  promise  in  the  presence  of  these  witnesses, 
that  you  will  never,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, reveal  any  part  of  what  you  are  now  to 
be  informed."  He  who  divulged  the  officers, 
rules  or  proceedings  of  the  order  was  expelled. 
The  whole  was  kept  secret  to  such  an  extent 
that  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  Dr. 
D  wight  was  even  acquainted  with  the  character 


76      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

and  proceedings  of  the  society.  The  vow  of 
secrecy  doubtless  explains  the  silence  of  the 
earlier  historians  concerning  this  organization. 
The  purpose  of  the  society  is  thus  stated  in 
the  preamble  of  the  constitution :  "  Since  Mo- 
rality is  essential  to  happiness  in  this  life  and 
in  that  which  is  to  come,  and  since  it  is  equally 
necessary  to  the  usefulness  and  respectability 
of  all  human  institutions,  the  formation  of  a 
society  for  its  promotion  in  this  Seminary  must 
be  considered  an  object  of  high  importance. 
Influenced  by  these  considerations,  the  under- 
signed do  hereby  form  themselves  into  a  so- 
ciety for  the  promotion  and  preservation  of 
morality  among  the  members  of  this  Univer- 
sity to  be  known  by  the  name  of  the  Moral 
Society  of  Yale  College."  Each  candidate  for 
membership  was  compelled  to  assent  to  the  fol- 
lowing questions : 

(1)  Will  you  endeavor  to  regulate  your  con- 
duct by  the  rules  of  morality  contained  in  the 
Bible  ? 

(2)  Will  you  endeavor  by  all  prudent  means 
to  suppress  vice  and  promote  the  interests  of 
morality  in  this  Seminary  ? 

(3)  Will  you  as  long  as  you  continue  a 
member  of  this  society  wholly  refrain  from 
every  kind  of  profane  language  ? 

(4)  Will  3^ou  never  be  guilty  of  playing  any 
game  in  which  property  is  concerned :  and  will 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  yy 

you  also  refrain  entirely  from  playing  cards 
whilst  you  continue  a  member  of  this  society  ? 
Meetings  were  held  once  in  three  weeks. 
At  each  meeting  an  oration  was  given  and  a 
debate,  with  three  disputants  on  each  side,  on 
some  moral  or  religious  subject.  The  record 
of  subjects  debated  clearly  shows  the  de- 
cidedly religious  character  of  the  society. 
The  decisions  indicate  that  the  outcome 
was  almost  invariably  evangelical  rather  than 
infidel.  At  these  meetings  the  opportunity 
was  given  for  public  confession  of  wrongs 
committed  since  the  last  meeting.  ]^ot  only 
did  they  keep  an  open  eye  on  each  other  but 
they  became  the  moral  censors  of  the  whole 
college.  The  character  of  the  membership  and 
this  high  purpose  made  the  organization  most 
influential  in  stamping  out  long-standing  im- 
moral practices.  During  the  four  years  pre- 
ceding the  great  revival  of  1802,  the  Moral  So- 
ciety included  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  all 
the  students  in  its  membership.  It  is  also  in- 
teresting to  note  that  in  this  record  book  is  a 
very  plausible  explanation  of  the  famous  state- 
ment concerning  the  presence  of  only  that  sol- 
itary undergraduate  at  a  certain  communion. 
There  was  a  college  recess  which  had  so  scat- 
tered the  students  that  the  regular  meeting  of 
the  society  could  not  be  held  on  the  Monday 
evening  following  the  day  in  question.     Pre- 


78      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

sumablj,  then,  the  few  Christian  students 
connected  with  the  institution  were  out  of 
town. 

All  this  is  exceedingly  interesting  and  surely 
proves  Avhat  has  already  been  intimated  that 
the  real  dark  day  of  religious  concerns  at  Yale 
was  rather  earlier,  than  later,  than  1795.  The 
Moral  Society  acts  as  the  intermediate  step 
from  infidelity  to  the  great  revival  interest  of 
1802.  The  decisive  character  of  the  revival  is 
convincing  evidence  that  the  Moral  Society 
served  as  the  ethical  preparation  for  the  spirit- 
ual quickening  which  followed  and  from  which 
it  should  be  distinctly  differentiated.  The  Moral 
Society  by  its  very  existence  and  its  tone  indi- 
cates a  true  spirit  of  inquiry  which,  however, 
failed  for  more  than  four  years  to  register  it- 
self in  open  allegiance  to  the  faith.  Mean- 
while the  number  of  avowed  professors  of  re- 
ligion dwindled  to  four  or  five,  as  w^e  have 
shown. 

This  very  definite  religious  transition  from 
skepticism  to  faith  at  Yale  is  found  in  other 
colleges  in  a  less  degree.  In  fact  there  is 
hardly  a  college  of  any  considerable  size  at  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  which  does 
not  show  this  same  leaven  at  work.  Sooner  or 
later  nearly  every  college  passed  through  an 
experience  similar  to  that  of  Yale  until  the  in- 
cubus of  the  prevailing  infidelity  was  thrown 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  yg 

off.     Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  sources 
of  initial   influence,  it  would   seem  as  if  the 
strength  of  skepticism  was  overcome  as  much 
by  the  new  spiritual  awakening  of  the  students 
as  by  the  persistent  attacks  of  the  college  fac- 
ulties.    We  have  treated  this  spiritual  revolu- 
tion, or,  better,  evolution  of  Yale,  somewhat  at 
length  because  it  accentuates   those  marked 
characteristics  common  to  the  movement  in  all 
of  the  colleges.     In  most  of  the  institutions  ) 
these  sporadic  attempts  at  the  solution  of  the  ? 
perplexing  problem  of  student  religious  initia-  \ 
tive  took  organized  form  without  the  advice  } 
and  generally  without  the  knowledge  of  the  \ 
faculty.     While  unwilling  to  underestimate  the  \ 
powerful  influence   exerted,  directly  and  in- 
directly, by  the  great  educators  who  must  be 
credited  with  arousing  these  initial  forces  which 
led  to  the  higher  spiritual  life,  it  is  most  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  exact  form  in  which  the 
longed-for  revival  came  was  from  within  the 
student  body,  and  was  a  great  surprise  in  many 
cases  to  the  college  leaders. 

From  Yale  we  next  turn  to  Harvard.  In 
Lawrence's  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  Leonard 
Woods  is  this  interesting  statement :  "  He  en- 
tered Harvard  in  1792.  His  college  life  drew 
him  from  the  salutary  influence  of  the  home, 
and  brought  him  into  new  trials  of  his  princi- 
ples and  new  temptations  to  swerve  from  them. 


8o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

It  was,  too,  the  darkest  period  morally  in  the 
history  of  our  country.  The  infidelity  which 
had  made  France  a  seething  caldron  of  malig- 
nant passions  had  stretched  across  the  ocean 
and  was  settling  thick  as  night  on  all  the  land. 
It  entered  the  institutions  of  learning  and  the 
lights  of  piety  went  out.  During  a  part  of 
young  Woods'  collegiate  course  the  late  Dr. 
John  H.  Church  was  the  only  professor  of  re- 
ligion in  the  four  classes."  ^  Professor  AYillis- 
ton  Walker,  citing  a  part  of  the  above  quota- 
tion, adds:  "Eeligiously,  Harvard,  like  Yale, 
was  carefully  observant  of  worship  and  doc- 
trinal instruction  as  far  as  its  officers  could 
make  it  so.  Just  twenty  years  before  Woods 
entered  Harvard,  students  had  been  relieved 
of  repeating  publicly  heads  of  the  sermons  they 
had  recently  heard,  and  for  eight  3^ears  they 
had  been  excused  from  attending  the  more 
technical  of  the  two  courses  of  instruction  given 
by  the  Hollis  Professor  of  Divinit}^,  unless  they 
intended  to  enter  the  ministry.  Yet  the  period 
of  Woods'  residence  at  Cambridge  was  about 
the  ebb-tide  of  religion  among  the  students  of 
A^merican  colleges.  The  French  alliance  in  the 
Eevolutionary  struggle  and  sympathy  with 
France  in  her  own  Ke volution  had  popularized 
the  French  contempt  of  religion  ;  and  able  and 
in  many  ways  devoted  and  patriotic  Americans, 
*  Congregational  Quarterly,  Vol.  1,  p.  106. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  81 

like  Franklin,  Paine,  Jefferson,  by  their  exam- 
ple or  by  their  writings  had  spread  wide  among 
the  students,  the  young  lawyers,  the  physicians 
and  the  politicians  of  the  period,  a  state  of  in- 
difference or  of  hostility  to  revealed  religion."  ^ 
There  were  thirty-three  who  graduated  with 
Woods  in  the  class  of  1796. 

The  statement  concerning  Woods  mentioned 
above  was  written  in  1858,  and,  so  far  as  I  can 
discover,  has  remained  unchallenged.  There 
could  not  have  been  a  time  during  Woods'  un- 
dergraduate days  when  there  were  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  students.  That  so  care- 
ful a  historian  as  Professor  Walker  gives  cre- 
dence and  currency  to  the  statement  that "  While 
Woods  was  at  Harvard  there  was  at  one  time 
only  one  professing  Christian  among  the  un- 
dergraduates," is  sufficient  proof  of  its  general 
accuracy.  But  allowing  that  there  were  many 
others  who  w^ere  secretly  Christian,  still  the 
ratio  of  the  professors  to  the  non-professors 
must  have  been  exceedingly  small.  It  is  quite 
improbable  that  any  such  internal  conditions 
existed  at  Harvard  at  this  time,  as  those  noted 
in  Yale  and  many  other  colleges. 

We  have  the  most  trustworthy  evidence  con^ 
cerning  the  religious  life  at  Williams  College 
during  this  period.  The  college  was  founded 
in  1793.     Rev.  Jedediah  Bushnell,  a  member 

1  Ten  New  Euglaud  Leaders,  pp.  366,  367. 


82      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

of  the  first  freshman  class,  thus  describes  the 
religious  conditions : 

"  Kespecting  the  religious  state  of  things  in 
college  during  my  residence  in  it,  I  have  no 
very  favorable  account  to  give.  It  was  the 
time  of  the  French  Revolution,  which  was,  at 
that  time,  very  popular  with  almost  all  the  in- 
mates of  college,  and  with  almost  all  people  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  French  infidelity 
and  French  philosophy  poured  in  upon  us  like 
a  flood  and  seemed  to  sweep  almost  everything 
serious  before  it.  J^ot  that  I  believe,  or  ever 
did  believe,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  students 
were  in  theory  settled  infidels ;  but  I  did  fear 
at  that  time,  and  now  as  much  fear,  that  a 
number  of  talented  young  men,  of  the  several 
classes,  did  fix  down  on  these  infidel  principles 
from  which  they  never  afterwards  were  recov- 
ered. Some,  however,  who  thus  made  Yolney 
their  oracle  and  openly  professed  it,  have  re- 
nounced it  since,  and  become  pious  and  useful 
men.  But  French  principles  at  college  had  a 
commanding  influence,  and  bore  the  multitude 
onward  in  its  course.  The  influence  w^as  so 
great  that  it  was  very  unpopular  for  a  sinner 
to  be  convicted  of  sin  or  be  converted,  or  say 
or  do  anything  on  the  subject  of  experimental 
piety.  There  were  two  or  three  old  professors 
of  religion,  w^iom  the  wicked  very  rarely 
treated  with  indignity ;  but  the  moment  a  sin- 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  83 

ner  began  to  have  serious  thoughts  the  wicked 
would  load  him  with  ridicule  and  shocking 
abuse.  This  spirit  ran  so  high  that  none  dare 
manifest  seriousness  except  those  whom  God 
had  truly  made  serious.  Kespecting  the  mor- 
als of  the  college,  some  infidels  were  moral  men 
according  to  the  common  acceptance  of  that 
term ;  but  as  a  general  rule,  the  college  suf- 
fered as  much  in  morals  as  it  did  in  the  theory 
of  religion ;  comparatively  with  the  colleges 
now  in  New  England  I  think  they  were  quite 
immoral.  Notwithstanding  this  state  of  things, 
there  was  a  redeeming  spirit  in  the  college  as 
long  as  I  was  a  member  of  the  institution. 
There  was  some  solid  active  piety  in  a  few 
which  remained  unmoved.  The  number  of 
professors  of  religion  was  very  few.  But  one 
in  my  class  (1Y9T)  at  that  time  belonged  to  any 
church, — none  in  the  higher  classes.  The 
classes  which  entered  afterwards  were  larger 
and  contained  several  professors  of  religion ; 
one  or  two  instances  of  decided  piety.  This 
spirit  of  piety,  though  limited  to  a  small  num- 
ber, had  an  enlightening  and  restraining  influ- 
ence on  many  at  times  beyond  what  is  easily 
imagined,  so  that  it  gave  comfort  and  hope. 
About  three  or  four  were  deeply  convicted  or 
hopefully  converted  while  I  was  a  member  of 
the  college.  Others  have  informed  me  since 
that  they  received  impressions  then  which  were 


84      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

never  effaced  from  their  minds  until  they  found 
the  salvation  of  the  Lord. 

"  But  that  which  in  my  judgment  had  the 
most  influence  of  all  things  under  God,  was  a 
prayer-meeting  every  evening  in  the  week  at 
the  ringing  of  nine  o'clock  bell.  One  of  the 
students  opened  his  room  for  the  prayer-meet- 
ing. The  meeting  was  much  in  the  form  of 
our  usual  family  prayers.  We  read  the  Scrip- 
tures, commented  on  the  truth,  exhorted  one 
another  and  closed  by  prayer.  Our  number 
hardly  ever  exceeded  twelve,  sometimes  nine 
or  ten,  commonly  six  or  seven  or  eight.  We 
usually  spent  twelve  to  fourteen  minutes  in  this 
meeting.  All  were  invited  to  come  who 
wished.  Some  non-professors  came,  some  of 
them  w^ould  come  for  awhile  and  then  retire 
for  a  season,  and  then  others  would  come. 
These  meetings  were  sustained  uniformly  for 
four  years,  during  my  whole  college  life  (1Y93- 
1797)  and  I  believe  will  be  remembered  with 
joy  in  another  world.  These  meetings  were 
solemn  and  sometimes  soul-refreshing,  and  they 
constituted  a  rendezvous  for  any  serious  mind 
in  college.  As  wicked  as  we  were  at  the  time, 
I  do  not  recall  a  single  insult  in  the  room  dur- 
ing the  time  of  our  devotions  or  where  we  held 
these  pra^^er-meetings  during  the  space  of  four 
years."  ^ 

^  Durfee's  History  of  Williams  College,  pp.  110-112. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  85 

Some  very  important  facts  and  figures  were 
given,  in  1828,  by  the  first  president,  Dr. 
Grifiin.  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  Dr. 
Griffin  was  one  of  the  most  successful  evang-el- 
ists  of  his  day,  and  was  certainly  well  qualified 
to  estimate  the  religious  status  of  the  college : 

"  The  year  1792,  it  has  often  been  said,  ushered 
a  new  era  into  the  world.  In  that  year  the 
first  blood  was  drawn  in  that  mighty  struggle, 
which  for  more  than  twenty  years  convulsed 
Europe.  In  that  year  the  first  of  those  insti- 
tutions which  modern  charity  has  planned  and 
which  cover  the  whole  face  of  the  Protestant 
world  arose  in  England.  And  in  that  year 
commenced  that  series  of  revivals  in  America 
which  has  never  been  interrupted,  night  or 
day,  and  which  never  will  be  until  the  earth  is 
full  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea.  For  many  years  I  supposed  I 
had  been  permitted  to  see,  in  my  native  neigh- 
borhood and  in  my  father's  house,  the  first  re- 
vival in  the  series.  But  it  was  with  deeply 
affecting  associations  that  I  learned  the  other 
day,  that  the  vice-president  of  the  college  was 
allowed  to  take  a  part  in  two  revivals  that  same 
year,  one  of  which  was  certainly  earlier  than 
that  which  I  witnessed. 

"  During  the  first  seven  years  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  college  (in  which  ninety-three 
graduated  in  six  classes)  there  were  but  five 


86      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

professors  of  religion,  exclusive  of  two  who 
seven  months  before  the  close  of  that  period, 
were  brought  into  the  church  by  the  revivals 
in  Litchfield  County.  The  seven  men  were 
Jedediah  Bushnell,  who  graduated  in  1797; 
Gideon  Bent  and  Nathan  Turner,  who  gradu- 
ated in  1798 ;  a  member  of  one  of  these  classes 
who  never  graduated  here,  Caleb  Knight  and 
Isaac  Knapp,  who  graduated  in  1800,  and 
James  W.  Kobbins.  The  last  two  were  those 
who  made  the  profession  in  Litchfield  County. 
They  were  both  of  Norfolk,  both  obtained  their 
hope  at  home,  in  the  fall  vacation  of  1799,  and 
both  joined  the  church  in  the  winter  vacation. 
"  In  three  of  these  classes  just  named,  there 
was  not  a  single  professor  of  religion.  From 
the  commencement  in  1798  till  February,  1800, 
there  was  but  one  professor  of  religion  in  col- 
lege. From  the  fall  of  that  year,  in  the  four 
classes,  which  afterward  sent  out  eighty 
graduates,  there  were  but  two  professors,  and 
both  of  them  had  obtained  their  hopes  in  the 
revivals  in  Litchfield  County  and  its  vicinity. 
These  two  young  men  labored  hard,  and  with 
many  discouragements  through  the  winter,  to 
establish  a  prayer-meeting. ,  But  the  next 
spring  the  religious  character  of  the  college 
received  an  important  change  from  the  acces- 
sion to  the  freshman  class  of  four  young  men 
from  Litchfield  County — two  from  Torrington 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  87 

and  two  from  Norfolk.  In  this  way  the  influ- 
ence of  the  new  era  gradually  crept  upon  the 
college,  which  from  this  time  began  to  rise  up 
to  the  sacred  distinction  of  being  the  birthplace 
of  American  missions."  ^ 

These  citations  admirably  reveal  the  relig- 
ious conditions  of  the  college.  There  is  much 
in  these  accounts  to  remind  one  of  the  religious 
history  of  Yale.  The  same  outward  depression 
caused  by  infidel  influence  continued  longer 
and  was  more  marked.  The  same  student 
initiative  in  religious  matters  which  reached 
small  numbers  and  exerted  but  a  limited  in- 
fluence, is,  however,  truly  noteworthy  in  its 
registration  of  the  progress  reached  and  is  an 
index  pointing  to  the  greater  things  to  come. 
Here  again  we  note  the  half -successful  attempt 
at  student  organization  for  definite  religious 
purposes.  A  little  acquaintance  with  the  deep 
spiritual  fervor,  strength  of  character  and  heart 
yearnings  for  spiritual  quickening  so  conspicu- 
ous in  President  Fitch  clearly  indicates  how 
deeply  intrenched  skepticism  and  religious  in- 
difference must  have  been.  Even  granting 
that  the  statistical  estimate  may  not  fairly 
represent  the  actual  religious  condition,  there 
still  remains  the  incontrovertible  fact  that  the 
religious  life  nearly  ebbed  away  during  the 

^  Sermon  by  Edward  Dorr  Griffin  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Chapel,  September  2,  1828. 


88      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

closing  years  of  the  century.  It  is  doubtless 
true  that,  under  the  incubus  of  ridicule  and 
persecution,  some  would  conceal  their  real  con- 
viction. Though  we  grant  this,  it  is  well-nigh 
offset  by  the  corresponding  conclusion  that  the 
indifference  must  have  been  very  outspoken 
and  powerful  to  so  thoroughly  repress  or  sup- 
press the  religious  sentiments  of  the  class  of 
students  whom  we  know  as  undergraduates  in 
those  days. 

In  Dartmouth,  we  have  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  conditions  were  more  favorable.  Right 
in  the  middle  of  a  long  period  of  religious  de- 
clension, we  believe  the  general  silence  of  the 
college  historian  best  interpreted  as  indicative 
of  a  dearth  of  facts  of  religious  interest.  In 
Sprague's  Annals  is  found  the  following  bio- 
graphical item  concerning  Rev.  Abijah  Wines : 
"  In  the  spring  of  1Y92  he  became  a  member 
of  the  sophomore  class  of  Dartmouth  College. 
During  his  connection  with  that  institution  he 
sustained  a  highly  respectable  standing  as  a 
scholar,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  very  general  in- 
difference to  religion  maintained  an  exemplary 
Christian  character."  ^ 

Professor  M.  D.  Bisbee,  college  librarian,  in- 
forms me  that  in  the  class  which  graduated  in 
1Y99  there  was  only  one  publicly  known  as  a 
professing  Christian,  though  at  the  time  there 

*  Sprague's  Anuals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  Vol.  2,  p.  373. 


The  Reign  of  Infidelity  89 

was  a  small  but  devoted  band  of  underclass- 
men earnestly  seeking  the  truth  and  holding 
meetings  in  private.  These  young  men  be- 
came effectual  workers  as  they  neared  the  close 
of  their  collegiate  course  and  did  much  in 
preparation  for  the  revival  of  religious  inter- 
est which  marked  the  early  years  of  the  new 
century. 

Chancellor  Kent,  who  graduated  from  Yale 
in  1Y81,  and  who  was  for  years  an  instructor 
in  Columbia  College,  said,  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  life,  "  In  my  younger  days  there  were  very 
few  professional  men  that  were  not  infidels ; 
or  at  least  they  were  so  far  inclined  to  infidel- 
ity that  they  could  not  be  called  believers  in 
the  truth  of  the  Bible."  ^ 

Dr.  Dorchester  having  spoken  of  the  marked 
spiritual  declension  at  Yale  when  the  number 
of  professing  Christians  ^vas  reduced  to  four 
or  five,  adds :  "  Princeton  College  was  no 
better,  and  William  and  Mary's  College  was 
called  a  hotbed  of  infidelity.  Transylvania 
University  in  Kentucky,  founded  by  the  Pres- 
byterians, was  wrested  from  them  by  the 
infidels."  ^ 

In  this  period  the  witnesses  have  in  many 
cases  testified  to  much  more  than  the  religious 
condition  of  the  colleges.     It  should  be  noted 

^  Trumbull's  Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday-school,  p.  167. 
3  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  p.  107. 


90      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

that  their  statements  not  infrequently  include 
all  professional  men.  Thus  we  have  definite 
light  thrown  upon  the  religious  conditions  of 
the  brain-workers  and  the  intellectual  leaders 
of  that  day.  By  the  data  herewith  presented 
we  are  able  to  reduce  to  statistical  estimates 
and  reasonable  ratios  the  religious  status  of  a 
very  considerable  class  of  the  intellectual  lead- 
ers represented  by  the  college  men.  This  cer- 
tainly is  worth  much  in  determining  the 
influence  of  the  Church  upon  the  men  of  edu- 
cation. This  influence  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  without  question  de- 
plorably low.  The  writer  has  in  his  possession 
an  abundance  of  evidence  which  confirms  the 
allusions  made  above  concerning  the  low  re- 
ligious status  among  men  outside  of  college 
halls.  We  call  special  attention  to  these  facts, 
that  by  comparison  and  contrast  greater  em- 
phasis may  be  laid  upon  the  splendid  results 
wrought  in  the  past  century  by  the  Church  in 
her  work  for  men.  Such  a  conspicuous  and 
notable  extension  of  influence  and  power  by 
the  Church  among  the  intellectual  leaders  of 
the  country  is  one  of  the  most  marked  char- 
acteristics of  a  century  of  Christian  effort. 


THE  KELIGIOUS  EEXAISSANCE,  OK 
THE  PEKIOD  OF  EECOYERY 

1800-1810 


"  He  fought  his  donbts  and  gathered  strength, 
He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind, 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind 
And  laid  them  :  thus  he  came  at  length 
To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own." — 'Tennyson. 

' '  At  the  very  beginning  of  this  century,  the  religious  de- 
pression was  at  the  lowest  as  measured  by  formal  outward 
acts  :  but  an  internal  process  was  going  on,  destined  under 
the  Providence  of  God  to  bring  relief." — I.  N.  Tarbox  in 
Kingsley^s  Yale  College,  Vol.  1,  p.  273. 

"For  never  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  the  higher  edu- 
cation when  these  principles  and  vices  which  are  frequently 
denominated  French  had  so  large  an  influence  among  Amer- 
ican students  as  the  opening  of  the  century.  The  records 
show  that  the  students  of  the  time  were  defiant  of  authority, 
in  conduct  immoral,  and  in  religion  skeptical.  A  general 
spirit  of  insubordination  prevailed.  ...  A  wave  of 
immorality  and  of  irreligion  had  for  a  time  submerged  all 
the  colleges.  "—Pres.  Charles  F.  Thwing,  The  American  Col- 
lege in  American  Life^  pp.  9,  10. 


CHAPTER  Y 

THE  RELIGIOUS  RENAISSANCE,  OR  THE 
PERIOD  OF  RECOVERY 

We  have  already  noted  that  just  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  fires  of  a 
new  revival  interest  were  kindled  here  and 
there  throughout  the  country.  Like  detached 
forest  fires  this  interest  spread,  increased  in 
volume,  gained  in  strength  till  in  the  first 
decade  of  the  new  century  it  reached  the 
greater  part  of  the  country.  Like  forest  fires, 
too,  this  interest  burned  intensely  for  awhile 
and  in  many  places  as  quickly  died  out.  So 
closely  does  the  religious  life  of  the  college 
correspond  with  that  of  the  churches,  that 
whatever  affects  the  one  will  erelong  leave  its 
impress  upon  the  other.  Naturally  the  influ- 
ence of  infidelity  was  more  manifest  in  college 
than  elsewhere  and  the  recovery  from  it  more 
retarded.  There  is  a  wide  divergence  of  opin- 
ion concerning  the  origin  of  the  college  revi- 
vals. The  spiritual  awakening  certainly  ap- 
peared in  the  churches  some  years  before  it 
was  in  evidence  in  college  halls.  Notwith- 
standing, the  leaven  of  the  new  life,  as  already 
93 


94      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

observed,  was  powerfully  working  among  the 
students  for  some  time  before  it  was  outwardly 
manifest.  While  in  some  of  the  colleges  the 
quickened  interest  is  directly  traceable  to  the 
matriculation  of  certain  consecrated  students, 
there  were  other  colleges  which  exerted  a 
most  powerful  spiritual  influence  upon  the 
communities  in  touch  with  them.  The  preva- 
lence of  infidelity  and  the  woful  declension 
of  religion  in  both  the  colleges  and  the 
churches  is  painfully  apparent  in  the  fact  that, 
after  the  glorious  revival  which  marked  the 
opening  of  the  century,  the  proportion  of 
church  members  to  the  total  population  was 
less  than  one-third,  and  the  ratio  of  Christian 
students  in  the  colleges  less  than  one-fourth 
of  that  of  the  present.  This  should  be  kept 
in  mind  lest  there  be  an  erroneous  impression 
respecting  the  grip  of  infidelity  and  the  Her- 
culean task  involved  in  the  spiritual  emanci- 
pation and  the  long  sustained  effort  required 
in  the  process  of  recovery. 

In  this  period  the  student  initiative  became 
more  conspicuous,  revealing  itself  most  defi- 
nitely and  prominently  in  the  famous  haystack 
meeting  at  Williamstown.  Its  manifestation 
is  apparent  in  nearly  all  of  the  colleges.  Be- 
hind the  facts  and  the  figures  presented  is  dis- 
covered the  surprisingly  interesting  and  vastly 
important  evolution  of  the  student  religious 


The  Religious  Renaissance  95 

life.  At  the  dawn  of  the  century  the  student 
movement  was  decidedly  imperfect.  It  was, 
so  to  speak,  the  adolescent  stage,  the  earnest 
and  promise  of  the  coming  Christian  manhood. 
There  were  frequent  and  painful  clashes  of 
interests.  The  old  paternal  regime,  accepted 
and  so  much  respected  in  the  earlier  days,  did 
not  always  easily  and  gracefully  yield  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  Then,  too,  the  students 
ofttimes  most  sadly  failed  in  the  correct  inter- 
pretation and  the  rightful  exercise  of  their 
newly  found  religious  freedom.  Liberty,  too, 
frequently  degenerated  into  license  in  this 
transitional  stage.  It  took  scores  of  years  for 
the  new  movement  to  work  itself  out,  and 
while  the  process  went  on,  sudden  changes  of 
religious  sentiment  and  marked  interruptions 
of  the  spiritual  progress  were  to  be  ex- 
pected. 

Dr.  Emerson  Davis,  writing  just  fifty  years 
ago  of  the  religious  life  in  the  colleges  at  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  says: 
"  There  have  been  considerable  changes  in  the 
mode  of  government  in  these  institutions.  It 
is  now  more  paternal  and  less  monarchical. 
There  is  less  attempt  to  overawe  the  students 
by  adhering  to  customs  that  had  been  handed 
down  from  the  dark  ages.  There  is  not  that 
wide  separation  between  the  classes  that  once 
existed.     There  has   been,  also,  a  great  im- 


96      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

provement  in  the  moral  and  the  religious  char- 
acter of  the  young  men  that  are  collected  in 
these  seminaries.  Fifty  years  ago  infidelity 
was  exceedingly  prevalent.  A  pious  young 
man  was  often  the  butt  of  ridicule.  Some- 
times not  a  tenth  of  the  students  were  pious ; 
and  if  those  who  were  met  for  prayer,  it  was, 
often,  at  a  private  house  in  the  town,  to  pre- 
vent being  annoyed  by  their  fellow  students. 
The  change  in  this  respect  has  been  so  great, 
that  some  will  be  slow  to  believe  the  state- 
ments I  have  made."  ^ 

I  think  that  Dr.  Davis'  estimate  "that 
sometimes  not  a  tenth  of  the  students  were 
pious  "  will  hold  true  of  all  the  American  col- 
leges at  the  opening  of  the  century ;  the  facts 
in  hand  indicate  a  considerably  smaller  ratio. 
But  the  force  of  infidelity  was  broken  and 
soon  the  fact  showed  itself  in  the  slow  but 
healthful  recovery  of  vigorous  spiritual  life. 
We  emphasize  in  passing  the  remarkable 
change  wrought  within  the  century — at  the 
beginning,  one  Christian  student  in  ten  ;  at  the 
end,  one  in  two ;  a  fivefold  gain. 

At  Yale  until  1802  the  outward  conditions 
remained  much  the  same,  so  far  as  religion  was 
concerned,  though  there  had  been  a  marked 
improvement  in  morals.  The  revival  interest 
which  had  begun  in  Connecticut  as  early  as 
^The  Half  Century,  Emerson  Davis,  D.  D.,  p.  78. 


The  Religious  Renaissance  97 

1^97  had  gradually  spread  over  the  whole 
country  and  the  colleges  began  to  feel  the  up- 
lift. At  Yale,  a  few  students  thus  awakened, 
were  matriculated.  They  were  thoroughly  in 
earnest,  met  daily  for  prayer  and  conference 
and  labored  definitely  for  a  spiritual  quicken- 
ing among  their  classmates.  In  the  early 
spring  of  1802,  something  very  unusual  oc- 
curred. Several  students  presented  themselves 
for  membership  in  the  college  church.  The 
number  increased  with  each  communion  till 
Jeremiah  Everts,  a  college  leader  from  the 
senior  class,  came  forward.  After  this  the  re- 
vival spread  throughout  the  college.  There 
were  no  special  services,  no  outside  help.  It 
was  to  a  large  degree  a  student  movement, 
though  the  power  and  influence  of  President 
D  wight  may  have  given  the  first  impulse. 
Certainly  no  one  did  more  to  give  permanency 
and  value  to  the  awakening.  The  revival  con- 
tinued for  about  six  months.  Sixty-three 
joined  the  college  church  and  many  others 
united  with  their  home  churches. 

"  It  was  preeminently  an  awakening  of  the 
students  of  Yale  from  a  moral  to  a  religious 
life.  Twenty -five  members  of  the  senior  class, 
no  one  of  whom  had  ever  been  'expelled, 
rusticated,  or  publicly  admonished,'  united 
with  the  college  church  on  the  Sabbath  before 
graduation.     The  Moral  Society  had  served  its 


98      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

purpose  well  with  them  in  introducing  them  to 
a  deeper  life,  the  needs  of  which  only  the 
Church  of  God  and  its  ordinances  could  meet."  ^ 
It  is  estimated  that  about  one-half  the  students 
were  converted  in  this  revival.  It  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind  in  this  connection  that  even  after 
this  great  revival,  so  famous  in  the  religious 
annals  of  Yale,  the  ratio  of  students  enumer- 
ated as  professing  Christians  was  considerably 
less  than  the  average  for  the  last  decade  in  the 
same  institution. 

In  1808  there  was  another  revival  of  shorter 
duration  and  less  extent,  with  an  ingathering 
of  about  thirty  converts.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  the  first  revival  in  Yale  under  the 
presidency  of  Dr.  D  wight  raised  up  ministers 
who  were  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of 
fifty  thousand  souls  in  one  generation.  A  dis- 
tinguished writer,  referring  to  D wight's  en- 
counter with  infidelity,  has  expressed  the 
opinion  that,  "  No  man  except  the  Father  of 
his  country  has  conferred  greater  benefits  on 
our  nation  than  President  D wight." 

The  influence  of  these  two  revivals,  which 
cannot  be  discounted,  was  not  so  continuous  as 
one  would  expect.  There  were  about  one-half 
of  the  students  who  were  not  deeply  affected, 
and  following  these  revivals  were  marked 
periods  of  declension  when  again  the  religious 

*  Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,  p.  65. 


The  Religious  Renaissance  gg 

life  sank  very  low.  Professor  Goodrich  notes 
this  in  the  following  statement : 

"  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  it 
is  a  striking  fact,  that  within  five  years  from 
the  close  of  that  most  remarkable  eif  usion  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  (1802),  the  college  church  was 
reduced  to  a  lower  state  than  before :  since,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  collegiate  year 
1807-1808,  the  number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians in  all  the  classes  did  not  exceed  fifteen."  ^ 

Corroborating  evidence  concerning  the 
marked  ebb  of  religious  interest  in  the  interim 
between  these  two  revivals  at  Yale  already 
considered,  and  the  indirect  but  significant 
testimony  respecting  the  tone  of  the  spiritual 
life  in  the  homes  and  the  churches  is  found  in 
the  statement  from  the  Memoir  of  Dr.  JSTettle- 
ton,  the  noted  evangelist.  "  When  Mr.  JSTettle- 
ton  entered  college  he  was  the  only  professor 
of  religion  in  his  class."  ^  He  entered  Yale  in 
the  middle  of  the  fall  term  of  the  year  1805. 
And  he  continued  to  be  the  only  professor  of 
religion  till  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  when 
two  or  three  others  entered  the  class.  As 
there  were  not  less  than  fifty  matriculated  in 
this  class  the  small  number  of  professors  of  re- 

1  Narrative  of  Eevivals  of  Eeligion  in  Yale,  Quarterly 
Register,  p.  297. 

•^Menioir  of  Kev.  Asahel  Nettleton,  D.  D.,  by  Bennet 
Tyler,  D.  D.,  p.  28. 


loo      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

ligion  is  remarkable.  Inasmuch  as  JSTettleton 
was  a  leader  in  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  col- 
lege in  the  revival  which  followed  two  and  a 
half  years  later,  his  testimony  has  a  deal  of 
significance.  The  author  of  the  memoir  se- 
cured these  facts  from  personal  interviews 
with  Dr.  ]^ettleton  and  committed  them  to 
writing  then  and  there. 

A  carefully  drawn  picture  of  the  religious 
life  of  Bowdoin  College  is  herewith  pre- 
sented in  full  because  of  its  accuracy  and  in- 
terest : 

"  For  playing  cards,  for  staying  away  from 
his  room  at  night,  for  failing  to  observe  study 
hours,  for  walking  or  driving  unnecessarily  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  for  other  similar  offences 
definite  penalties  were  fixed  and  imposed. 
Unfortunately,  delinquencies  of  this  sort,  while 
they  occupy  page  after  page  of  the  records  of 
the  executive  government,  were  not  the  only 
ones  punished.  The  habits  of  society  at  that 
time  and  the  circumstance  that  the  students, 
for  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  college  ex- 
istence, were  mostly  from  the  wealthier  class 
in  the  community,  made  intemperance  a 
formidable  foe  to  college  order  and  morality. 
The  temptation  to  drink  to  excess,  if  opportu- 
nity be  considered  a  part  of  temptation,  was 
surely  far  greater  than  at  the  present  day, 
while  the  personal  oversight  conscientiously 


The  Religious  Renaissance  loi 

exercised  by  the  college  officers  living  in  the 
buildings,  made  every  shortcoming  known. 

"  On  one  occasion  a  young  man,  who  after- 
wards became  a  faithful  and  honored  pastor, 
was  publicly  admonished  for  having  been  over- 
come with  liquor.  There  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  intemperance  and  kindred  vices  were 
more  prevalent  at  Bowdoin  than  at  other  col- 
leges, at  that  period,  but  it  seems  proper  to 
mention  the  earnest  and  open  measures  taken 
to  check  them."  ^ 

The  college  was  founded  in  1794  and  was 
opened  for  school  purposes  in  1802.  Dr.  Mc- 
Keen  was  president  from  1802  to  1807.  "  Dur- 
ing President  McKeen's  brief  administration 
religious  life  and  activity  existed  among  the 
teachers,  not  among  the  students.  For  a 
longer  time  than  would  be  supposed  in  view  of 
the  earnest  efforts  put  forth  from  the  first,  this 
continued  to  be  the  case  under  President 
Appleton.  The  Theological  Society,  with  a 
membership  of  seventeen,  was  organized  in 
1808,  and  its  meetings  continued  to  be  held 
with  greater  or  less  regularity  for  forty  years. 
Its  object,  however,  was  the  friendly  discus- 
sion of  doctrinal  and  ethical  questions  rather 
than  the  direct  promotion  of  Christian  living. 
Though  its  influence  for  practical  piety  was 
not  manifest  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  it 

'  History  of  Bowdoin  College,  p.  44. 


102      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

is  a  significant  fact  that  nine  of  the  seventeen 
became  earnest  Christians  in  after  life."  ^  "In 
the  first  classes  at  Bowdoin  college,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Smith,  "  I  can  learn  of  but  one  student 
who  may  have  been  deemed  at  the  time  of  ad- 
mission hopefully  pious."  ^  "  Religion,"  writes 
one  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  college, 
"  was  connected  with  the  college  only  in  the 
person  of  President  McKeen." 

During  the  first  three  years  of  President 
Appleton's  administration  (1807-1810),  there  is 
much  evidence  that  there  was  not  a  single  pro- 
fessor of  religion  in  college.  His  diary  is  filled 
with  sad  allusions  to  the  terribly  low  state  of 
religious  interest.  Graduates  of  the  period 
testify  to  the  strenuous  effort  made  in  their 
behalf,  which,  however,  was  unavailing.  It  was 
a  day  of  great  rejoicing  when  one  Christian 
student  entered  the  college.  "When  there 
was  not  a  professing  Christian  among  the 
students,  he  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the 
admission  of  a  student  in  1810,  who  to  highly 
respectable  scholarship  added  the  charms  of  a 
deep  piety,  fervent,  yet  unobtrusive.  Alone 
among  his  fellow  students,  he  yet  sustained,  in 
the  midst  of  thoughtlessness  and  at  times  open 
immorality,  a  Christian  character  without 
reproach  to  the  end  of  his  college  course,  which 

*  History  of  Bowdoin  College,  p.  48. 
^  Tyler's  Prayer  for  Colleges,  p.  226. 


The  Religious  Renaissance  103 

was  to  him  ahnost  the  end  of  life,  as  he  almost 
literally  descended  from  the  commencement 
platform  to  the  grave.  The  memory  of  Cargill 
was  long  cherished  with  respect  and  affection 
by  contemporaries  in  college."  ^ 

At  Williams  the  religious  conditions  were 
just  about  as  bad  as  they  could  well  be.  The 
institution  was  founded  in  1Y93.  "  During  the 
first  seven  years  of  the  existence  of  the  college 
(in  which  ninety-three  graduated  in  six  classes) 
there  were  but  five  professors  of  religion  in  the 
institution,  exclusive  of  two  who  seven  months 
before  the  close  of  that  period  were  brought 
into  the  church  by  the  revivals  in  Litchfield 
County."  Following  the  list  of  names  of  these 
professors  and  certain  further  particulars,  is  the 
following  statement :  "  In  three  of  the  classes 
just  named  there  was  not  a  single  professor  of 
religion.  From  the  commencement  in  1Y98 
till  February,  1800,  there  was  but  one  professor 
of  religion  in  college.  From  the  fall  of  that 
year,  in  the  four  classes,  which  afterward  sent 
out  eighty  graduates,  there  were  but  two  pro- 
fessors and  both  of  them  had  obtained  their 
hopes  in  the  revivals  in  Litchfield  County  and 
its  vicinity."  ^ 

*  History  of  Bowdoin  College,  Nehemiah  Cleaveland, 
p.  16. 

^  Sermon  preached  at  the  dedication  of  the  Chapel,  1828, 
by  President  E.  D.  Griffin. 


104      '^^^  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

In  1801  the  spiritual  apathy  was  somewhat 
counteracted  by  the  persistent  and  manly 
efforts  of  four  freshmen  who  entered  college 
with  positive  religious  convictions  which  they 
were  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge  before  their 
classmates.  These  students,  like  those  men- 
tioned above,  came  from  the  famous  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut.  The  detailed  statements 
concerning  the  religious  life  at  Williams  pre- 
cludes any  discounting  of  the  facts  presented. 
It  is  well  to  remember  that  this  deplorable 
state  of  religion  in  the  college  indicates  a  cor- 
respondingly low  condition  in  the  churches,  for 
otherwise  the  students  would  have  been  pro- 
fessing Christians  on  entering  the  school. 
There  is  also  evidence  that  President  Fitch  and 
the  faculty  were  doing  all  in  their  power  to 
break  the  chains  of  infidelity  and  indifference. 
Eev.  Seth  Swift,  the  village  pastor,  was  also 
untiring  in  his  efforts  to  quicken  the  religious 
interest  of  the  community  ;  parents  were  pray- 
ing that  the  revival  interest  so  refreshing  else- 
where might  extend  to  Williamstown.  After 
twelve  years  of  the  most  severe  religious 
drought  the  showers  of  blessing  descended 
upon  the  college,  producing  an  encouraging 
spiritual  harvest.  The  interest  was  first  noted 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  1805  and  continued 
throughout  the  summer.  It  was  largely  con- 
fined, however,  to  the  professors  of  religion, 


The  Religious  Renaissance  105 

and  about  the  only  effect  it  had  upon  others 
was  in  the  deepening  of  their  opposition. 
Personal  effort  on  the  part  of  the  few  Chris- 
tian students  met  with  coarse  ridicule  and 
rebuff.  But  the  conditions  were  such  that 
wherever  the  opposition  did  not  suppress  the 
spiritual  convictions  they  became  character- 
istically pronounced.  The  religious  leader  of 
the  time  seems  to  have  been  a  student  by  the 
name  of  Bailey.  Of  him  and  his  work  the 
college  historian  thus  speaks  : 

"  This  young  man,  with  several  others,  set 
up  a  meeting  in  the  summer  of  1805,  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  college,  it  not  being  deemed 
prudent  to  meet  for  such  a  purpose  in  the 
college  buildings,  as  at  that  period  we  could 
hardly  have  held  a  prayer-meeting  in  college 
without  ridicule  and  interruption.  This  meet- 
ing was  somewhat  secret.  I^umbers  however 
rallied  around  the  standard  and  the  meeting 
filled  up,  though  the  house  was  a  considerable 
way  off.  '  This  was  a  blessed  meeting,'  says 
one  who  was  a  member  of  it,  *and  there  I 
always  thought  the  revival  began.'  About 
the  same  time  another  meeting  was  set  up, 
also  private,  and  out  of  college,  probably  for 
the  same  reason."^ 

These  religious  forces  continued  to  operate 
for  a  year  before  there  was  any  marked  spir- 

^  History  of  Williams  College,  Durfee,  p.  115. 


io6      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

itual  interest  among  the  unconverted  in  the 
college.  There  was  an  extensive  revival  in  the 
village  church  which  affected  the  whole  com- 
munity. Within  the  college  the  struggle  had 
been  protracted  "amidst  much  contention." 
There  was  less  violent  opposition  and  more 
spiritual  zeal,  though  outwardly  the  conditions 
remain  practically  unchanged.  "The  spring 
of  1806  was  made  memorable  to  the  college  by 
the  admission  to  its  bosom  of  these  two  distin- 
guished youths,  Gordon  Hall  and  Samuel  J. 
Mills, — the  former  to  the  sophomore  class,  the 
latter  to  the  freshman."  Such  is  the  state- 
ment of  President  Griffin.  These  men  w^ith  a 
half  dozen  companions,  before  the  conclusion 
of  their  college  course,  inaugurated  one  of  the 
grandest  movements  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
On  entering  college  Gordon  was  not  a  decided 
Christian  and  did  not  participate  in  some  of 
the  earlier  meetings  of  Mills  and  his  cowork- 
ers, though  later  he  was  in  the  most  hearty 
accord  with  them. 

Mills  came  from  Torrington,  Connecticut, 
from  a  Christian  home  where  he  was  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  missions  from  his  birth  by 
parental  dedication,  a  consecration  which  he 
eventually  made  his  own.  When  a  youth  he 
was  deeply  impressed  at  the  revival  meetings 
of  1798,  but  did  not  till  some  years  later  pub- 
licl}^  avow  his  allegiance  to  Christ.     For  four 


The  Religious  Renaissance  107 

years  previous  to  his  admission  to  college  he 
was  a  zealous  and  fearless  Christian  worker. 
On  entering  college  he  found  a  small  but  very 
devoted  band  of  Christians  of  like  spirit.  The 
little  company  of  believers,  so  much  the 
stronger  by  these  notable  accessions,  exerted  a 
wide  and  powerful  influence  which  soon  shook 
the  whole  college.  The  freshman  class  came 
more  particularly  under  the  influence  of  the 
revival,  but  the  sophomore  and  the  senior 
classes  were  also  deeply  moved. 

Here  again  we  note  that  the  chief  credit  for 
the  spiritual  awakening  is  given  to  the  students 
by  the  most  accurate  historians  of  the  college. 
It  would  be  manifestly  unfair  to  leave  out  of 
consideration  the  spiritual  leadership  of  the 
devoted  president  and  the  prayerful  solicitude 
of  the  many  friends  of  the  institution.  Not- 
withstanding, the  operation  of  the  student  ini- 
tiative was  very  pronounced  but  became  more 
marked  in  that  which  follows. 

Mills  came  to  college  fired  with  zeal  for  mis- 
sions ;  a  remarkable  fact  when  one  remembers 
that  he  lived  one  hundred  years  ago,  when  the 
cause  of  missions  was  so  little  considered. 
Brainerd  was  his  ideal  and  hero,  the  story  of 
whose  life  he  had  heard  again  and  again  from 
the  lips  of  his  mother.  It  is  a  significant 
fact  that  American  missions,  both  foreign 
and    domestic,    received    their    chief    initial 


io8      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

impulse  from  college  men.  Mills  was  a  ma- 
ture Christian  when  he  entered  college,  with 
convictions  for  his  life-work  carefully  formu- 
lated. This  great  purpose  in  life  was  to  carry 
the  blessings  of  the  gospel  to  those  who  had 
never  heard  it.  At  first  he  thought  only  of 
the  Indians  and  for  them  he  meditated  and 
prayed.  Later,  with  a  map  of  the  world  before 
him,  the  need  of  foreign  lands  flashed  in  upon 
him.  He  prayed  and  reflected  much  over  the 
great  need  which  had  thus  been  revealed  to 
him.  How  should  it  be  met  ?  from  whence  the 
means  ?  who  would  go  ?  Such  were  the  queries 
of  his  active  and  consecrated  mind.  For 
months  he  pondered  over  the  matter  alone,  but 
at  length  he  determined  to  unburden  his  mind 
by  confiding  in  two  or  three  of  his  fellow 
students. 

He  led  them  out  into  the  grove  where  he 
was  accustomed  to  retire  for  meditation  and 
prayer,  and  where  there  would  be  little  likeli- 
hood of  interruption  and  little  exposure  to  obser- 
vation. Driven  by  a  shower,  the  little  group 
sought  the  shelter  of  a  near-by  haystack. 
There  he  made  known  his  plans,  and  the  day 
was  spent  in  prayer  and  fasting.  It  is  not 
our  purpose  to  dwell  upon  this  memorable 
meeting  under  the  haystack,  when  the  great 
decision  was  made  to  organize  for  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  heathen.     The  secret  society  with 


The  Religious  Renaissance  109 

its  solemn,  pledge  to  the  foreign  work  and  the 
careful  consideration  of  ways  and  means  of 
best  advancing  their  project,  are  well  known. 

The  object  of  the  organization  was  "  to  effect 
in  the  person  of  its  members  a  mission  to  the 
heathen,"  and  the  constitution  was  drawn  up 
in  cipher,  "  public  opinion  being  opposed  to 
us  "  and,  "  lest  we  should  be  thought  rashly 
imprudent,  and  so  should  injure  the  cause  we 
wish  to  promote."  With  extraordinary  fore- 
sight and  wisdom  their  missionary  purpose 
was  wrought  out.  They  interviewed  leading 
clergymen  and  secured  their  endorsement  and 
aid ;  they  searched  out,  published  and  distrib- 
uted sermons,  tracts  and  other  work  on  mis- 
sionary subjects;  they  commenced  an  inter- 
collegiate correspondence  on  missions ;  they 
visited  and  addressed  the  students  of  the  col- 
leges. There  were  no  missteps,  few  mistakes ; 
and  so  quietly,  wisely,  from  a  half  dozen  stu- 
dents of  Williams  College,  American  missions 
had  their  rise.  The  slogan  of  Mills,  sounded 
forth  from  beneath  the  haystack  to  his  hesi- 
tating companions,  "  We  can"  do  it  if  we 
WILL,"  has  been  the  battle-cry  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  cross  through  a  century  of  missionary 
progress  and  success. 

These  young  men  were  so  much  in  advance 
of  their  age  that  it  should  occasion  no  surprise 
that  their  plan  failed  in  the  colleges   and  met 


1 10      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

with  only  slight  encouragement  from  the 
churches  at  first.  The  chasm  between  infidelity 
and  missionary  zeal  is  a  wide  one  and  is  not 
taken  at  a  single  bound.  But  we  call  attention 
to  the  striking  resemblance  between  what  Mills, 
Hall  and  their  companions  attempted  to  do  in 
the  colleges  and  that  which  is  now  being  actu- 
ally done  by  the  Volunteer  Movement.  That 
this  work  of  Mills  and  his  followers  is  a  fair 
sample  of  the  religious  condition  of  the  col- 
leges of  the  time  is  farthest  from  the  truth. 
Even  in  Williams  the  indifference  was  such 
that  the  meetings  were  kept  secret,  and  even 
after  the  great  revival,  a  large  proportion  of 
the  students  were  not  professing  Christians. 
In  the  other  colleges  the  religious  life  was  still 
very  low. 

Concerning  Harvard,  Brown  and  Dartmouth, 
no  facts  of  interest  have  been  gleaned.  The 
impression  is  that  these  colleges,  like  those  out- 
side of  'New  England,  were  still  laboring  with 
the  burden  of  indifference,  and  that  infidelity 
in  many  of  the  smaller  colleges  was  still  very 
evident. 

Further  evidence  of  the  low  religious  state  of 
the  college  students  of  this  period,  and  espe- 
cially for  the  years  just  preceding,  is  indicated 
by  the  notable  decrease  in  the  percentage  of 
graduates  preparing  for  the  ministry.  From 
1795  to  1810  there  was  a  loss  of  more  than 


The  Religious  Renaissance  1 1 1 

twenty-five  per  cent.  Inasmuch  as  there  was 
during  this  period  a  deplorable  lack  of  properly 
trained  men  for  the  guidance  of  the  churches, 
and  such  a  scarcity  of  ministers  that  many 
self-supporting  parishes  were  shepherdless,  it 
is  apparent  that  something  was  wanting  in 
the  religious  zeal  of  the  churches  and  the  con- 
secration of  the  college  men.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  should  be  noted  that  for  nearly  a  score 
of  years  there  had  been  a  growing  dissatisfaction 
over  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  religious 
instruction  in  the  colleges.  This  disaffection 
led  directly  to  a  most  radical  and  important 
departure  from  the  old  educational  regime  and 
also  to  a  readjustment  of  the  purpose  and  plan 
of  a  college  education.  The  establishment  of 
the  theological  seminary  and  other  technical 
schools  have  wrought  far-reaching  results. 

At  Andover,  in  1808,  the  first  theological 
seminary  in  America  was  founded.  As  Dr. 
Bacon  observed  in  1858,  "  Half  a  century  ago 
it  was  generally  assumed — though,  if  it  had 
ever  been  true,  it  was  not  true  then — that  a 
college  graduate  was  of  course  acquainted  with 
theology,  at  least  as  much  as  with  any  other 
branch  of  learning.  "Within  little  more  than 
a  hundred  years  past,  the  colleges  have  ceased 
to  be  the  theological  seminaries  which  they 
once  were,  and  have  become  exclusively  and 
merely  seats  of    liberal  education.     Such  a 


1 12      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

change — and  it  was  ahuost  completed  fifty 
years  ago — involved  the  necessity  of  a  new  col- 
lege, devoted  to  the  teaching  of  theology  and 
the  theological  sciences,  unless  the  original  de- 
sign of  the  fathers  who  founded  Harvard  and 
Yale  in  the  wilderness,  was  to  be  relinquished."  ^ 
There  were  other  marked  changes  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  curriculum  which  it  is  not  in  our 
province  to  discuss,  but  which  exerted  their  in- 
fluence on  the  religious  life  of  the  college. 
With  the  founding  of  Andover  Seminary  was 
introduced  a  differentiation  in  educational  mat- 
ters which  has  now  reached  many  other  fields 
of  learning. 

In  this  period,  then,  we  note  several  well- 
defined  revivals,  the  missionary  enterprise  at 
Williams  and  the  rise  of  theological  seminaries. 
From  the  spiritual  viewpoint  there  is  a  marked 
progress  towards  better  things  in  spite  of  the 
generally  prevalent  religious  indifference. 
Care  should  be  taken  lest  the  exceptional  relig- 
ious interest  at  Yale  in  1802  and  the  mission- 
ary zeal  at  Williams  in  1807  be  taken  as  the 
measure  of  the  religious  life  in  all  the  colleges. 
In  fact  in  neither  of  these  institutions  under 
the  most  favorable  conditions,  so  famed  in  his- 
tory, did  the  ratio  of  professing  Christians 
reach  the  normal  of  the  same  colleges  for  the 

^  Commemorative  Discomse,  Andover  Seminary,  1858, 
Dr.  Leonard  Bacon. 


The  Religious  Renaissance  1 1 3 

present  day.  Objection  may  be  raised  that 
only  a  few  of  the  colleges  are  considered  in 
this  period.  Most  of  the  institutions  to  which 
no  reference  is  made  enrolled  but  few  students. 
In  some,  as  at  Middlebury,  for  instance,  the 
religious  conditions  were  more  favorable,  but 
especially  in  the  Southern  institutions  the 
spiritual  decadence  was  far  more  marked  than 
in  the  E'ew  England  colleges. 

One  hundred  years  ago  nearly  all  the  edu- 
cational institutions,  save  a  possible  half  dozen, 
were  most  closely  identified  with  the  commu- 
nities in  which  they  were  located.  AVilliams, 
Dartmouth,  Brown,  Bowdoin,  Middlebury  and 
nearly  all  the  smaller  institutions  in  their  early 
history  sustained  no  separate  religious  institu- 
tion, but  became  an  integral  part  of  the  village 
church  in  matters  of  public  worship  and  spirit- 
ual ministrations.  Consequently,  far  more 
than  to-day,  the  state  of  religion  in  college  fur- 
nishes the  key  to  the  religious  situation  in  edu- 
cational centers.  Almost  every  one  acquainted 
with  the  subject  recognizes  the  fact  that  these 
college  communities  were  peculiarly  fortunate 
concerning  religious  interests.  In  them  the 
most  strenuous  effort  was  put  forth  to  deepen 
the  spiritual  life.  There,  too,  were  found  some 
of  the  ablest  preachers  and  most  devoted  Chris- 
tians. Certainly  the  spiritual  privileges  in 
such  communities  were  superior  to  those  found 


114      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

elsewhere.  The  fact  that  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  students  entered  college  opposed  or 
mdifferent  to  the  established  principles  of  the 
Christian  faith  indicates  at  least  that  there 
was  something  the  matter  with  the  religious 
life  of  the  Church  and  home.  In  these  churches 
little  or  nothing  was  done  to  reach  the  young 
men,  and  in  the  membership  of  many  there 
were  practically  no  young  men. 

Would  that  we  possessed  something  of  "  the 
transmigratory  art "  of  which  Charles  Reade 
writes,  so  that  we  might  put  ourseh^es  in  the 
place  of  the  college  student  one  hundred  years 
ago !  The  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  was  well- 
nigh  universal.  Even  ministerial  associations, 
as  we  learn  from  Dr.  L^nnan  Beecher  and 
others,  during  the  period  under  consideration, 
imbibed  freely  at  their  meetings  from  the 
tempting  array  of  "  hard  drinkables,"  and  some- 
times bore  the  evidence  in  staggering  steps  and 
maudlin  speech.  Impurity,  profanity  and 
Sabbath  desecration,  as  might  be  expected  with 
so  much  intemperance, were  distressingly  preva- 
lent. Should  the  reader  question  the  state- 
ments respecting  the  immorality,  suggestive 
and  rewarding  reading  may  be  found  in  the 
earlier  reports  of  the  various  temperance  or- 
ganizations, the  parish  records  of  the  old 
churches  and  the  biographies  of  eminent  men 
in  the  service  of  the  Church  and  State.    There 


The  Religious  Renaissance  115 

were  no  men's  organizations  within  the  Church, 
no  young  people's  societies  for  religious  pur- 
poses, no  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
no  weekly  prayer-meeting  excepting  in  the 
larger  churches,  no  Sunday-schools,  save  here 
and  there  one  started  experimentally  and  gen- 
erally in  opposition  to  the  church.  Such  were 
those  good  old  times.  This  explains  why  such 
a  large  proportion  of  the  students  entered 
college  before  their  conversion.  Great  credit 
is  due  the  colleges,  however,  that  so  many 
graduated  with  a  firm  and  fixed  religious  faith. 
The  college  in  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  training  the  reformers  who  in 
after  years  inaugurated  the  great  moral  reforms 
and  religious  movements  which  wrought  revo- 
lutions in  thought  and  custom,  and  which  have 
made  possible  the  higher  life  here  and  in  other 
lands. 


EDDIES  AND  CEOSS-CUEEENTS,  OE 
THE  PEEIOD  OF  TEA:NSITI0]S' 

1810-1820 


"The  worth  of  a  civilization  is  the  worth  of  the  man  at 
the  center.^' — President  Boosevelt. 

"  Take  heart ! — the  Master  builds  again, — 
A  charmed  life  old  Goodness  hath : 
The  tares  may  perish, — but  the  grain 
Is  not  for  death. 

God  works  in  all  things  ;  all  obey 
His  first  propulsion  from  the  night : 
Wake  thou  and  watch  ! — the  world  is  gray 
With  morning  light! " 

—  WhUtier, 

**  A  religion  that  fails  to  identify  itself  with  the  intelli- 
gence, science,  and  the  best  progress  of  the  age  can  have  no 
hold  upon  the  future.  It  is  the  mission  of  Christianity  to 
enlighten." — Dr.  Daniel  Dorchester. 


CHAPTER  YI 

EDDIES  AND  CROSS  CURRENTS,  OR  THE 
PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION  1810-1820 

More  than  any  other  this  is  the  period  in 
which  certain  changes  already  observed  in  the 
inner  life  of  the  college  become  outwardly 
manifest.  As  a  whole  there  is  religious  de- 
clension at  the  beginning,  sinking  lowest 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  decade,  slowly 
rising  never  again  to  fall  so  low  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  century.  From  this  period 
the  proportion  of  professing  Christians  to  the 
whole  student  body  has  steadil}^  risen.  The 
most  conspicuous  cause  of  religious  disturb- 
ance was  the  war  with  England,  which  with 
its  antecedents  and  consequences  centered  in- 
terest upon  political  rather  than  religious  topics. 
One  turns  from  the  study  of  these  years  with 
a  deal  of  dissatisfaction.  There  is  little  of 
special  importance  or  interest.  Peculiar  fluc- 
tuations of  religious  thought  abound ;  college 
curricula  are  being  changed  and  a  general  un- 
settled condition  prevails  in  Church  and  State. 
The  pendulum  swings  from  revival  zeal  to 
religious  indifference  with  a  lower  average  of 
119 


120      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

spiritual  interest  for  the  first  five  years  since 
the  opening  of  the  century. 

It  should  ever  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  great 
revivals  of  the  beginning  of  the  century  were 
in  most  localities  of  brief  duration,  covered 
only  a  limited  area  of  the  whole  country,  and 
were  followed  by  the  most  distressing  spiritual 
drought.  Here  and  there  were  places  with 
specially  favorable  conditions  where  the  spirit- 
ual awakening  was  permanent,  but  they  were 
exceedingly  rare.  Infidelity,  which  had  been 
so  effectually  silenced  in  the  first  decade,  reap- 
peared with  new  vitality  and  voice  by  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second.  And  it  is  stated  on  good 
authority  that,  between  1817  and  1830,  five 
million  seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  volumes  of  the  works  of 
Yoltaire,  Kousseau  and  other  infidel  writers 
were  circulated  here  in  America.^  There  is 
also  abundance  of  evidence  to  prove  that  vast 
districts  on  the  Western  and  Southern  frontiers 
were  practically  destitute  of  churches,  minis- 
ters, and  the  most  common  religious  influences. 

In  1815  the  American  Society  for  the  Edu- 
cating of  the  Pious  Youth  for  the  Gospel 
Ministry  was  organized.  The  demand  for  such 
an  organization  and  the  hearty  reception  given 
to  it  are  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  low  re- 
ligious condition  of  the  churches  as  well  as  of 

^  American  Register,  August,  1830. 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  121 

the  country  at  large.  The  early  reports  of 
this  society  are  replete  with  interesting  data 
respecting  religious  destitution.  The  charac- 
ter of  the  men  identified  with  the  movement 
is  the  sufficient  guarantee  of  the  accuracy  of 
the  representations  made.  In  the  first  address 
introductory  to  a  long  list  of  facts  this  state- 
ment is  made  :  "  But  to  thoughtful  Christians 
the  reflection  is,  that  in  less  than  two  hundred 
years,  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims,  who 
encountered  the  hardships  of  the  deep  and  the 
privations  of  exile  to  enjoy  the  gospel,  being 
multiplied  to  millions,  have  so  far  degenerated 
from  the  piety  of  their  ancestors  that  most  of 
them  are  at  present  unprovided  with  a  learned 
gospel  ministry."  Then  follows  the  "  Appeal 
to  Facts  "  which  shows  not  only  the  scarcity 
of  trained  leaders,  but  as  well  the  prevailing 
religious  indifference.  These  old  reports 
would  make  most  rewarding  reading  for  some 
of  the  modern  alarmists  and  pessimists,  who 
forget  the  thought  of  the  poet : 

"Idly  as  thou,  in  that  old  day 

Thou  mournest,  did  thy  sire  repine  ; 
So,  in  his  time,  thy  child  grown  gray 
Shall  sigh  for  thine. 

"  But  life  shall  on  and  upward  go  ; 
The  eternal  step  of  Progress  beats 
To  that  great  anthem,  calm  and  slow, 
Which  God  repeats." 


122      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

Again  would  we  call  the  reader's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  college  man  is  a  fair  rep- 
resentative of  the  man  of  brains  in  the  com- 
munity. For  it  would  be  exceedingly  easy  to 
prove  that  the  fluctuations  of  religious  inter- 
est noted  among  college  men  are  equally  char- 
acteristic of  the  thoughtful  men  outside  of 
college.  And,  without  analyzing  the  relation- 
ship, somehow  there  is  the  most  faithful  repro- 
duction of  the  college  man's  interest  or  indif- 
ference among  the  leaders  outside;  so  that 
the  conviction  deepens  that  the  college  man 
embodies  the  current  and  common  spiritual 
ideals  for  each  successive  period  and  furnishes 
a  most  accurate  index  of  spiritual  culture 
among  the  mind-leaders  of  the  age.  The  inti- 
mate association  of  college  interests  with  those 
of  the  churches  and  community  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century  make  such  conclusions 
almost  inevitable. 

At  Yale  there  was  a  series  of  revivals  so 
following  each  other  that  no  class  graduated 
without  experiencing  a  special  spiritual  uplift. 
In  1812-1813  there  was  an  extensive  revival 
which  was  distinctively  marked  as  a  student 
movement.  The  death  of  Tom  Paine,  the  in- 
fidel, as  a  common  drunkard  in  1809,  certainly 
weakened  the  forces  of  infidelity.  The  Moral 
Society  for  these  years  seems  to  have  reached 
the  acme  of  its  influence.     The  student  initia- 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  123 

tive  was  so  marked  in  the  conversion  and  ex- 
perience of  Elias  Cornelius  that  we  direct 
special  attention  to  it.  "  In  the  winter  of  1812- 
1813  several  members  of  the  senior  class,  one 
of  whom  was  librarian  of  the  Moral  Society, 
mostly  unknown  to  one  another,  engaged  in 
prayer  for  this  spiritual  awakening.  When 
the  revival  was  first  thought  of,  Elias  Cornelius, 
then  a  senior,  was  agreed  upon  as  the  man  that 
was  most  likely  to  oppose  it.  Special  prayers 
were  offered  by  a  number  for  his  conversion. 
The  change  in  this  man  soon  after  was  sudden 
and  complete,  and  made  a  great  impression 
upon  the  college.  '  I  perfectly  recollect,'  wrote 
one  of  his  classmates,  ^  of  his  making  his  first 
entrance  into  the  Moral  Library  of  which  I 
was  librarian  and  drawing  the  Memoir  of 
Susanna  Anthony.'  He  broke  soon  after  with 
his  evil  company  and  profanity.  In  time  he 
became  fully  conscious  of  Christ's  power  and 
presence,  and  was  the  happy  instrument  of 
leading  nearly  twenty  members  of  his  own 
class  to  accept  the  Christian  faith  before 
graduation,  a  class  in  which  previously  not 
over  four  had  been  openly  professors  of  relig- 
ion. By  his  labors,  between  eighty  and  one 
hundred  students  of  all  classes  were  awakened 
to  a  new  sense  of  their  Christian  responsi- 
bility." ' 

'  Edwards,  Memoir  of  Elias  Cornelius,  pp.  22-25. 


1 24      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

Two  years  later,  in  1815,  the  last  revival 
during  the  administration  of  President  D  wight 
took  place.     There  had  been  a  secret  prayer- 
meeting  held  every  Sunday  morning  for  some 
time    previous.      Many   were   praying  for  a 
special    blessing,   and   at  length   the   answer 
came  in  a  very  peculiar  manner.     It  was  the 
custom  to  call  upon  the  senior  class  alphabetic- 
ally to  read  at  the  vesper  service  a  short  ser- 
mon or  some  devotional  selection  chosen  by 
the  faculty.     In  the  first  week  in  April,  1815, 
the  person  assigned  for  the  reading  was  far 
from  being  seriously  inclined  towards  religious 
matters.     The  appointed  selection  was  an  ac- 
count of  the  death  of  Sir  Francis  Newport. 
"  The  solemn  recital  of  this  narrative  which  he 
had  never  before  seen  affected  his   mind  so 
deeply,  that  he  read  with  increasing  emotion 
as  he  advanced,  at  last  ending  in  a  faltering 
accent  and  with  tears.     Such  an  exhibition  of 
tears  where  it  was  least  expected  operated  at 
once  with  a  kind  of    electric  power  on  the 
whole  body  of  students.     Nearly  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  college  became  anxious  for  the 
salvation  of  his  soul ;  and  those  who  had  been 
most  thoughtless  seemed  to  be  the  most  af- 
fected."^    During  the  year  about  eighty  men 
publicly  avowed  their  allegiance  to  Christ. 
Two  years  after  this  revival,  in  1817,  Presi- 
'  Goodrich,  Quarterly  Register,  1838,  p.  301. 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  125 

dent  D  wight  passed  away.  For  nearly  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  his  commanding  Christian 
personality  had  impressed  itself  upon  every 
man  who  had  entered  Yale.  His  influence 
was  powerfully  felt  for  another  generation 
and  still  marks  the  religious  life  at  Yale. 

From  Yale  we  turn  to  Princeton  where  we 
find  interesting  material  awaiting  us.  There 
were  apparently  about  forty  years  (1773-1813) 
of  spiritual  drought  in  Princeton.  If  there 
were  revivals  of  any  note  they  have  not  come 
to  the  attention  of  the  writer.  So  careful  a 
historian  as  Dr.  Dorchester  affirms  that  there 
were  none.  In  1813,  however,  there  was  a  re- 
markable spiritual  awakening,  a  description  of 
which  serves  the  double  purpose  of  showing 
the  previous  religious  indifference  and  the  re- 
sults which  followed: 

"The  few  pious  youth  who  were  members 
of  the  college  before  the  revival  were  happily 
instrumental  in  promoting  it.  They  had  for 
more  than  a  year  been  earnestly  engaged  in 
prayer  for  the  event,  when  they  perceived  the 
general  and  increasing  seriousness  which  had 
been  noticed.  Several  of  them  made  an  agree- 
ment to  speak  privately  and  tenderly  to  their 
particular  friends  and  acquaintances  on  the 
subject  of  religion."  ^ 

*  Ashbel  Green,  A  report  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  relative  to  a  I\e\ival  of  Religiou,  p.  12. 


126      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

"The  whole  number  of  students  in  the 
classes  of  the  college  is  one  hundred  and  live ; 
of  whom  twelve  were  professors  of  religion 
when  the  revival  began.  .  ,  .  Thus  of  the 
students  now  in  college,  a  majority  may  be 
viewed  as  hopefully  pious  ;  and  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  residue  appear  to  possess  much  ten- 
derness of  conscience,  and  show  a  very  desirable 
regard  to  religious  duties  and  obligations."  ^ 

We  observe,  then,  that  previous  to  the  re- 
vival only  about  eleven  per  cent,  of  the  under- 
graduates were  professing  Christians,  and  that 
after  the  revival  only  about  one-half  were  thus 
enrolled.  Many  if  not  most  of  the  subjects  of 
the  revival  belonged  to  the  senior  class ;  con- 
sequently after  their  graduation  the  proportion 
of  professing  Christians  was  again  sadly  re- 
duced. The  new  accessions  to  the  college  were 
more  numerous  than  usual,  but  of  a  totally 
different  moral  and  religious  character.  The 
hope  of  another  spiritual  awakening  was  not 
realized.  Troubles  between  faculty  and  stu- 
dents arose  and  again  the  religious  conditions 
sank  very  low.  In  the  year  1812  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  was  founded,  and  from 
that  time  has  been  a  power  for  good  in  the 
college  communit3\ 

Turning   our   attention   next  to  the  Berk- 

^  Ashbel  Green,  A  report  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  relative  to  a  Eevival  of  Religion,  p.  9. 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  127 

shires,  where,  considering  the  famous  haystack 
incident,  we  would  most  naturally  expect  to 
find  a  high  state  of  spiritual  activity,  we  dis- 
cover quite  the  reverse.  The  religious  interest 
aroused  in  the  revival  of  1806-1807  seems  to 
have  left  the  institution  with  the  graduates  of 
the  upper  classes. 

"  Following  the  revival  lax  morality  and 
want  of  religion  crept  in,  and  grew  more  pow- 
erful till  in  1811  the  number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians was  again  reduced  to  twenty  in  the  whole 
college  (about  fifteen  per  cent.),  and  these 
mostly  in  the  senior  class,  much  apprehension 
was  felt,  but  a  revival  sprung  up  in  1812."^ 
Kev.  Charles  Jenkins  of  Portland  whites : 
"The  revival  of  1812  of  which  you  request  an 
account  was  an  interesting  work.  Its  fruits 
remain  to  this  day.  As  I  entered  one  year  in 
advance,  the  class  of  1810  were  serious  during 
my  first  year.  That  class  contained  a  good 
proportion  of  pious  students  and  the  interests 
of  religion  until  they  left  were  pretty  well 
sustained.  In  the  next  class  there  was  a  less 
amount  of  active,  ardent  piety.  Keligion  was 
in  a  low  and  languishing  state.  It  was  a 
period  of  much  political  excitement.  Wicked- 
ness abounded  and  the  love  of  many  w^axed 
cold,  '  scrapes '  were  frequent,  and  some  of  a 
very  daring  character,  the  Chapel  Bible  was 

^  Hopkius  ill  Durfee's  History  of  Williams  College,  p.  127. 


128      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

several  times  removed  or  nailed  to  the  seat. 
Once  at  least,  it  was  supposed  to  be  burned. 
There  was  some  intemperance ;  I  had  not  the 
means  of  knowing  how  much.  In  one  carousal, 
I  was  credibly  informed,  there  was  a  mock 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  my  class 
nearly  one-third  were  professors  of  religion, 
but  the  state  of  religious  feeling  was  very  low. 
Almost  everything  around  me  seemed  hostile 
to  a  state  of  living  piety.  Some  of  the  forms 
of  godliness  remained,  but  its  power  and  life 
had  fled.  In  the  class  after  me,  previous  to 
the  revival,  there  were  but  two  or  three  pro- 
fessors of  religion.  The  low  and  declining 
state  of  religion  was  truly  alarming.  In  the 
fall  of  1811,  Mr.  ISTott,  one  of  the  first  mis- 
sionaries to  India  was  employed  to  preach 
at  Williamstown.  His  labors  were  greatly 
blessed.  An  interesting  revival  of  religion 
commenced  among  the  inhabitants.  But  the 
college  at  this  time  was  like  the  mountain  of 
Gilboa  on  which  fell  neither  dew  nor  rain.  It 
was  a  scene  of  so  much  noise  and  confusion 
that  I  seriously  contemplated  hiring  a  room  in 
some  private  house  where  I  might  prosecute 
my  studies  with  less  interruption.  A  retired 
senior  of  the  class  of  1812  gathered  about  him 
the  Christian  men  and  they  met  on  the  Sab- 
bath and  on  Thursday  eve.  After  much  dis- 
couragement  and   perseverance  the  deadlock 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  129 

yielded  and  a  revival  of  thirty  or  forty  re- 
sulted." 1 

ISTo  less  than  four  of  the  accredited  histori- 
ans of  Williams  mention  in  the  most  emphatic 
terms  the  prevalence  of  intemperance  during 
this  period.  We  consider  this  phase  of  immo- 
rality in  connection  with  this  institution,  not 
because  it  reached  greater  depths  there  than 
elsewhere,  but  because  there  are  trustworthy 
witnesses  who  in  testifying  for  the  one  col- 
lege speak  for  all.  Emery  Washburn  affirms  : 
"  Everybody  at  that  day  drank,  and  so  be  it 
excited  the  animal  spirits,  it  mattered  not 
much  what  the  liquor  was.  Some  kept  it  in 
their  rooms  and  indulged  in  its  use  in  their 
convivial  meetings  without  concealment  and 
disgrace.  As  I  look  back  upon  the  history  of 
the  past  there  are  few  things  more  obvious  in 
the   management  of  colleges  than  the  most 

favorable  change  in  the  matter  of  intoxica- 
tion." ^ 

"As  a  natural  result  of  the  worldly  con- 
formity in  church,  various  species  of  immoral- 
ity became  prevalent,  the  general  habit  of 
drinking  wine  and  brandy  on  all  extraordinary 
occasions,  the  habit  of  treating  on  the  election 
of  officers,  or  of  the  two  societies.  In  fact  at 
most  of  the  meetings,  at  the  close  of  the  term, 

J  Durfee's  History  of  Williams  College,  pp.  127,  128. 
2 Ibid.,  lutro.,  p.  24. 


130      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

or  the  commencement  of  a  term,  wine  and 
spirits  were  freely  used.  It  was  customary 
with  some  to  keep  them  in  their  rooms.  In- 
temperance was  a  crying  sin  in  those  days,  and 
it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  professors  of  re- 
ligion to  be  found  mingled  with  the  multitude 
partaking  and  even  encouraging  it."  ^ 

At  Bowdoin  after  years  of  depression  there 
followed  a  period  of  revival  in  religious  mat- 
ters. We  have  already  noted  the  great  joy  of 
President  Appleton,  when  in  1810  James  Car- 
gill  entered  the  freshman  class  at  a  time 
"  when  there  was  not  a  professing  Christian 
among  the  students."  But  for  a  year  or  two 
Cargill  apparently  stood  alone.  In  1812 
Frederic  Southgate,  one  of  the  tutors,  came 
out  as  a  Christian.  Cargill  and  Southgate  were 
the  means  of  establishing  meetings  for  prayer 
and  the  promotion  of  personal  righteousness 
among  the  students,  which  have  been  since 
maintained  without  interruption.  In  1813 
there  were  a  few  professing  Christians  in  the 
entering  class.  And  slowly  though  surely  the 
forces  of  righteousness  gained  in  power  till  the 
spiritual  awakening  of  1816.  Concerning  this 
an  extract  from  the  diary  of  President  Apple- 
ton  will  be  of  interest : 

"Nov.  28,  1816:  God  has  been  pleased  I 
trust  to  visit  several  of  the  students  with  his 

'  Quarterly  Register,  1841,  p.  462. 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  131 

saving  health.  We  do  hope  that  at  least  six 
of  the  number  have  been  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  the  mind.  This  is  a  great  thing, 
a  very  great  thing.  A  third  of  the  students, 
or  very  nearly  that  proportion,  it  is  now  hoped 
is  pious.  It  is  but  a  little  while  since  we  had 
none  of  this  description."  A  year  later  he 
writes  :  "  As  to  the  college  God  has  shown  us 
new  favors.  Not  only  have  a  considerable 
number  of  serious  students  entered,  but  there 
have  recently  been  three  or  four  individuals 
converted  to  the  Lord.  This  is  a  great  thing, 
an  unexpected  mercy  that  God  should  have 
returned  to  us  so  soon.  Those  students  w^ho 
were  thought  to  have  experienced  religion  a 
year  ago,  have  by  divine  grace  done  well. 
They  appear  to  be  good,  sound,  judicious  and 
zealous  Christians.  This  is  a  glorious  thing, 
religion  seems  to  have  obtained  a  strong  foot- 
ing in  Bowdoin  College."^ 

While  we  might  present  much  more  evidence 
of  interesting  and  convincing  character,  we 
feel  that  what  has  been  adduced  fairly  reveals 
the  religious  condition  of  all  the  American  col- 
leges for  the  period.  There  is  every  reason  to 
think  that  were  all  considered  the  picture 
would  be  far  darker  and  more  depressing. 
For  we  have  gathered  our  material  from  those 
institutions  which  have  ever  been  most  con- 

'  History  of  Bowdoiu  College,  pp.  102-107. 


132      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

spicuous  for  morality  and  religion.  Possibly 
in  some  of  the  smaller  institutions  there  may 
have  been  more  favorable  conditions,  but  in 
many  we  know  that  it  was  quite  otherwise. 
Numerically  the  students  in  the  colleges  con- 
sidered embrace  the  large  proportion  of  the 
total  enrolment  for  the  period.  For  the  fifty 
years  from  1770  to  1820  the  religious  life  in 
American  colleges  sank  so  low  that  it  might 
well  be  called  the  Dark  Age  of  Eeligion. 
Throw  out  half  of  the  material  presented,  put 
the  most  liberal  construction  on  the  remain- 
der, and  still  the  facts  are  such  as  to  convince 
the  most  skeptical,  if  open  to  enlightenment, 
that  the  Church  of  to-day  is  reaching  the  men 
of  intellect  with  a  measure  of  success  abso- 
lutely unknown  a  century  ago. 

As  has  been  intimated,  the  marked  charac- 
teristic of  this  period  was  the  suddenness  of  the 
fluctuations  of  religious  interest.  The  pendu- 
lum swung  from  the  extreme  of  indifference, 
and  in  some  cases  open  infidelity,  to  violent 
and  sensational  outbursts  of  religious  senti- 
ment. Mighty  forces  were  working  in  both 
Church  and  State,  the  full  effect  of  which  was 
not  discerned  nor  understood  till  many  years 
later.  The  student  of  the  characteristic  move- 
ments of  the  nineteenth  century  will  find  this 
period  peculiarly  interesting.  The  first  score 
of  years  was  significantly  marked  by  the  agi- 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents 


133 


tation  for  and  inception  of  some  of  the  greatest 
missionary,  reform  and  philanthropic  agencies 
of  modern  times.  A  spirit  of  unrest  prevailed, 
not  ominous  of  disaster  but  the  earnest  of  bet- 
ter things.  With  such  a  prodigious  amount 
of  agitation  and  the  gradual  crystallization  of 
new  thought,  the  overthrow  of  some  cherished 
customs  and  preconceived  ideas  was  inevitable. 
In  such  a  time  some  lost  their  bearings  and  the 
result  is  apparent  in  the  apostasy  of  not  a  few 
in  college  halls  who  failed  to  make  the  proper 
adjustment  of  early  training  to  later  and  newer 
thought.  It  was,  however,  a  period  peculiarly 
fitted  for  the  discovery  of  spiritual  and  intel- 
lectual leaders  and  afforded  ample  field  for  ef- 
fectual influence  and  originality. 

The  fluctuation  of  religious  interest  is  most 
clearly  revealed  in  the  church  and  parish  rec- 
ords. For  years  there  would  be  very  small  ac- 
cessions and  every  indication  of  indifference; 
then  suddenly  there  comes  a  reversal  of  condi- 
tions and  a  notable  increase  in  membership. 
At  such  times  the  men  show  an  interest  not 
apparent  when  religious  interest  is  at  low  ebb. 
This  is  observed  in  the  rising  ratio  of  males  to 
females  in  the  church-membership.  Again 
from  these  old  records  there  is  little  indication 
that  the  young  men  were  reached.  The  change- 
able character  of  the  early  years  of  the  century 
gives  occasion  for  serious  misunderstanding  and 


134      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

opposing  views  of  the  religious  condition. 
And  this  is  just  what  would  be  most  naturally 
expected.  There  were  communities  and  times 
which  considered  alone  would  furnish  material 
for  almost  any  kind  of  opinion.  Our  endeavor 
has  been  to  present,  in  a  form  as  accurate  as 
possible,  a  true  and  comprehensive  view  of  the 
state  of  religion  not  only  in  the  colleges  but 
for  the  whole  country.  The  commendable 
features  should  not  divert  our  attention  from 
the  actual  conditions  of  the  spiritual  life. 
After  the  war  of  1812  political  and  material 
interests  were  in  the  ascendency  with  a  corre- 
sponding loss  in  religious  matters. 

While  in  most  respects  the  consideration  of 
the  period  is  unsatisfactory,  one  turns  from  it 
with  a  very  strong  conviction  that  a  new  and 
vigorous  faith  has  taken  deep  root.  Especially 
is  this  true  in  college  life.  From  this  time  on 
there  is  a  steady  development  of  Christian  fiber 
and  force.  It  is  well  to  remember,  however, 
that  the  ratio  of  professing  Christians  to  the 
whole  body  of  students  was  very  low  and  much 
less  than  half  what  it  is  to-day.  We  have  rea- 
son to  believe  that  a  similar  ratio  would  obtain 
among  the  intellectual  leaders  outside  the  col- 
lege. In  that  day  there  surely  was  some  oc- 
casion for  the  charge  that  the  Church  was  fail- 
ino:  to  reach  and  hold  the  men  of  intellect. 
We  are  unwilling  to  conclude  our  study  of  this 


Eddies  and  Cross-Currents  135 

decade  without  an  expression  of  sincere  appre- 
ciation for  the  excellent  work  wrought  by  a 
small  but  devoted  band  of  positive,  leal-hearted 
Christian  workers. 


THE  GEEAT  INGATHERIJSTG,  OK  THE 
PERIOD  OF  EEYIVALS    1820-1850 


"  The  revivals  in  college,  both  ancient  and  recent,  have 
been  under  the  guidance  of  experienced  and  discriminating 
men.  They  have  not  been  seasons  of  mere  agitation,  but 
times  when  religious  instruction  has  been  carefully  imparted. 
They  have  proved  to  be  genuine  by  the  improvement  in 
morals,  which  has  invariably  followed  in  their  train.  And 
they  have  supplied  the  churches  of  the  land  with  a  body  of 
ministers  whose  ability  and  devotion  to  their  work  are  be- 
yond a  question." — Fisher,  History  of  Church  of  Christ  in 
Yale  College,  p.  35. 

*'The  third  period  in  the  development  of  the  American 
college  dates  from  about  the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century.  This  period  deserves  an  epithet  no  less 
broad  than  the  word  human.  The  college  has  become  in 
this  period  an  agency  for  preparing  its  students  for  life.  Its 
purpose  is  no  less  than  the  fitting  of  a  man  to  achieve  all 
purposes  which  he  may  worthily  set  before  himself." — Pres. 
C.  Thwing,  The  American  College  in  American  Life,  p.  10. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GREAT  INGATHERING,  OR  THE 
PERIOD  OF  REVIVALS    1 820-1 850 

Dr.  Tyler  declares  that  the  year  1820 
"  introduced  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  col- 
leges generally,  and  particularly  of  revivals  in 
colleo^es."  We  believe  this  to  be  true.  The 
transition  through  which  the  colleges  were 
passing  in  the  last  period  reviewed  ended  quite 
definitely  with  the  beginning  of  the  third  dec- 
ade. The  octopus  grasp  of  infidelity  had  been 
thoroughly  broken ;  the  student  movement  had 
developed  wisdom  as  well  as  strength  ;  faculty 
supervision  had  radically  changed  and  the  era 
of  construction,  in  religious  sentiment  and  ideal, 
had  been  fairly  ushered  in. 

Outside  of  the  college  there  were  in  the  polit- 
ical world  the  formative  forces  operating  which 
produced  the  American  commonwealth.  The 
people  were  homogeneous  in  blood  and  pur- 
pose. The  great  moral  reforms  rooted  in  the 
preceding  periods  began  to  exert  a  tremendous 
influence.  The  temperance  movement  accom- 
plished a  world  of  good.  In  the  Church  there 
were  unusual  spiritual  activity,  a  burning  zeal 
for  missions  and  a  newly  awakened  interest  in 
139 


140      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

education.  It  is  in  no  wise  strange  that  the 
constructive  spirit  animated  the  colleges  for 
the  second  quarter  of  the  century,  for  it  was 
peculiarly  the  period  of  organization  in  Amer- 
ican history. 

Inasmuch  as  the  change  already  indicated 
introduced  the  modern  college  spirit,  it  will  be 
unnecessary  for  us  to  do  more  than  to  note  the 
degree  of  success  attained  and  such  additional 
observations  as  shall  indicate  the  evolution  of 
^  this  religious  life.  Great  interest  centered  in 
I  the  "  Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges."  "  The  last 
Thursday  of  February,  1823,  was  set  apart  by 
many  friends  of  Zion  as  a  season  of  fasting  and 
special  prayer,  that  God  would  pour  out  his 
Spirit  on  the  colleges  of  our  country  the  pres- 
ent year  more  powerfully  than  ever  before."  ^ 
In  many  of  the  colleges  that  day  never  passed 
without  special  blessing.  The  concentration 
of  interest  in  the  churches  on  the  colleges 
could  have  no  other  than  a  beneficial  result. 
In  the  colleges  there  was  more  of  organization 
of  religious  forces,  more  personal  work,  less 
friction  between  faculty  and  students.  In  con- 
trast with  the  preceding  years,  the  religious 
life  was  most  encouraging  compared  with  the 
present ;  however,  it  still  falls  far  below  the 
normal. 

In  our  treatment  of  this  period  we  make  a 

»  Tyler,  Prayer  for  Colleges,  pp.  149,  150. 


The  Great  Ingathering  141 

radical  change,  and  for  good  and  sufficient 
reasons.  Hitherto  we  have  dealt  largely  with 
the  individual  college,  for  the  conditions  in  the 
one  were  largely  duplicated  in  all  the  rest,  and 
also  because  a  proper  consideration  of  the  evo- 
lution of  the  student  movement  necessitated 
the  individualistic  treatment.  This  has  been 
traced  at  sufficient  length  to  determine  the 
trend  at  least  of  the  religious  life  in  the  college 
and  to  forecast  the  type  of  college  religion  a 
half  century  later.  Then,  too,  the  number  of 
educational  institutions  increased  with  surpris- 
ing rapidity  during  the  period  under  considera- 
tion. Furthermore,  the  fluctuations  of  revival 
interest  lessen  the  comparative  value  of  the 
statistics  of  the  individual  college  while  en- 
hancing the  worth  of  statements  and  estimates 
involving  large  groups  of  institutions  at  any 
given  time.  Gradually  a  very  marked  change 
was  taking  place.  In  former  years  the  connec- 
tion of  the  college  to  the  community  in  which 
it  was  situated  was  most  intimate  and  vital ; 
later  on  the  college  developed  a  communal 
environment  peculiarly  its  own.  It  became 
more  and  more  differentiated  from  its  local 
surroundings,  and  consequently  not  so  de- 
cidedly affected  by  the  rise  or  fall  of  religious 
sentiment  about  it.  This  change  meant  far 
more  than  might  at  first  be  thought  and  throws 
considerable  light  upon  existing  conditions. 


142      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

Fortunately  we  have  now  reached  the  period 
of  statistics.  And  while  not  giving  undue 
importance  to  figures,  and  recognizing  how 
misleading  they  frequently  are,  yet  we  place 
more  confidence  in  these  statistical  evidences 
than  in  the  witness  of  any  individual  or  group 
of  persons.  And  while  it  is  true  that  some 
of  the  enrolled  professors  of  religion  were 
unworthy  of  the  name  Christian,  we  believe 
that  the  number  would  be  offset  and  about 
equalized  by  the  number  of  those  who  were 
genuinely  religious  and  sincerely  Christian, 
even  though  no  public  profession  had  been 
made.  Inasmuch  as  these  two  classes,  hypo- 
critical professors  of  religion  and  those  who 
were  the  silent  and  secret  followers  of  our 
Lord,  will  just  about  balance  each  other  in 
those  earlier  times  as  well  as  to-day,  statistics 
covering  long  periods  of  years  are,  for  purposes 
of  comparison,  of  the  greatest  value. 

Early  in  the  second  decade  of  the  century 
there  was  an  alarming  dearth  of  ministers,  and 
the  churches  became  painfully  conscious  of  the 
fact  through  their  inability  to  furnish  trained 
men  for  some  of  the  stronger  churches,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  lack  in  the  small,  remote  and 
frontier  communities.  To  meet  this  need,  edu- 
cational societies  were  formed  to  encourage 
consecrated,  worthy,  studious  young  men  to 
prepare  for  the  ministry  and  to  provide  such 


The  Great  Ingathering  143 

financial  assistance  as  they  might  require. 
The  American  Society  for  Educating  Pious 
Youth  was  instituted  in  1815.  There  were 
perhaps  two  state  organizations  of  the  same 
kind  antedating  this  society  by  a  few  months. 
Marked  results  of  this  organization  appear 
before  the  end  of  the  decade.  (1)  Agents 
of  these  societies  made  the  most  careful  and 
painstaking  investigation  of  the  religious  life 
of  young  men  in  the  Church  and  in  the  college, 
and  statistics  were  gathered  with  conscientious 
thoroughness.  (2)  The  number  of  professing 
Christians  was  greatly  increased  in  the  colleges 
and  the  ratio  between  professors  and  non-pro- 
fessors correspondingly  lowered.  There  could 
have  been  no  other  result  from  the  energetic 
effort  of  pastors  and  churches  thus  definitely  di- 
rected. Figures  indicate  a  surprising  increase. 
(3)  There  was  a  general  stimulus  given  to  every 
Christian  activity,  at  home,  in  Cliurch  and  col- 
lege, directed  to  the  religious  life  of  young  men. 
This  word  of  explanation  is  given  to  account 
for  the  statistics  herewith  presented  and  to  show 
why  so  much  confidence  is  placed  in  them. 

The  earliest  and  most  interesting  of  these 
statistical  tables  which  we  have  seen,  are  found 
in  "  The  Christian  Almanac  of  the  Year  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  1822."  The 
first  volume  of  a  series  which  has  been  con- 
tinued down  to  the  present,  was  issued  in  1821. 


144      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

It  was  published  by  Lincoln  &  Edmands,  53 
Cornhill,  Boston,  for  the  JSTew  England  Tract 
Society.  Though  anonymously  edited,  we 
haye  it  on  good  authority  that  Eufus  Ander- 
son, then  a  young  man,  afterwards  to  become 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  divines  of  the 
Congregational  denomination,  was  the  editor 
for  the  first  ten  years.  His  name  is  a  guar- 
antee of  accuracy  and  conseryative  statement. 
In  the  early  issues  of  this  quaint  little  publica- 
tion is  much  material  bearing  upon  the  subject 
in  hand.  As  these  issues  are  exceedingly  rare 
we  think  it  worth  while  to  present  in  full  two 
of  the  tables  giyen. 

TABULAR  VIEW  OF  THE  COLLEGES  TAKEN 
EKOM  OFFICIAL  DOCUMENTS 


'^^ 

1^1 

5%^ 

Names  of  Colleges 

i 

^^ 

1. 

Harvard  University 

291 

17 

15 

2. 

Yale  College 

316 

97 

46 

3. 

Princeton  College 

116 

25 

11 

4. 

Dartmouth  College 

146 

65 

43 

5. 

Williams  College 

83 

42 

24 

6. 

Middlebury  College 

100 

48 

22 

7. 

Union  College 

255 

66 

32 

8. 

Brown  University 

151 

59 

18 

9. 

Bowdoiu  College 

101 

23 

7 

10. 

North  Carolina  University 

135 

10 

11. 

Hamilton  College 

92 

48 

34 

12. 

Vermont  University 

35 

9 

1 

1821 

509 

253 

The  Great  Ingathering  145 

"  In  these  colleges,"  says  Mr.  Anderson,  "  we 
find  509  professing  religion.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  these  we  may  hope  will  enter  the  min- 
istry. Of  these  253  are  charity  students  and 
are  all  studying  wath  exclusive  reference  to 
the  ministry."  We  cite  this  statement  because 
it  shows  that  one-half  of  the  professing  Chris- 
tians in  the  colleges  were  of  the  charity  class, 
and  presumably  but  a  small  proportion  of  them 
would  have  entered  college  had  they  not  been 
strongly  urged  so  to  do,  and  had  not  means 
been  furnished  for  their  support. 

It  is  noted  that  three-fourths  of  these  col- 
leges are  in  JSTew  England  where  the  religious 
interests  were  the  deepest,  as  all  are  agreed. 
The  colleges  outside  of  'New  England  men- 
tioned in  the  list  are  the  four  in  which  we 
would  expect  the  highest  ratio  of  professing 
Christians.  And  yet,  according  to  this  tabula- 
tion, comprising  colleges  likely  to  make  the 
very  best  showing  in  religious  statistics,  less 
than  twenty-eight  per  cent,  were  professing 
Christians.  In  the  group  of  eight  New  Eng- 
land colleges  just  about  thirty  per  cent,  were 
professing  Christians.  In  the  group  outside  of 
New  England  the  number  was  less  than 
twenty-five  per  cent.  From  statistics  gleaned 
from  the  large  number  of  colleges,  not  included 
in  the  above  tabulation  five  and  six  years 
later,   and   from  what  we  know  of  these  col- 


146      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

leges  from  other  sources,  we  are  perfectly  safe 
in  estimating  the  percentage  several  points 
lower  than  in  either  of  the  groups  above  men- 
tioned. From  the  figures,  estimates  and  bio- 
graphical material  in  hand,  one  may  conserva- 
tively estimate  the  number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians at  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  total  student  enrolment.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  this  estimate  is  considerably 
larger  than  that  given  by  trustworthy  and  au- 
thoritative statisticians  of  the  Education  So- 
ciety as  recorded  in  the  Quarterly  Register  for 
the  years  1827-30.  They  declare  that  'HTie 
2)ro])ortion  was  only  one-fifth  or  one-sixth,^'* 
placing  their  whole  estimate  lower  than  our 
minimum  estimate. 

Now  while  we  realize  that  figures  are  not  in- 
fallible, and  sometimes  grievously  mislead  the 
seeker  after  truth,  we  hold  that  till  some  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary  is  adduced  there  is  no 
valid  reason  for  discounting  these  general  esti- 
mates. Certainly  men  whose  business  it  was 
to  study  religious  conditions  in  the  colleges, 
who  were  visiting  these  institutions  and  were 
acquainted  with  both  faculties  and  students, 
who  were  acting  for  the  churches  for  the  very 
purpose  of  studying  the  college  religious  life, 
ought  to  be  trustworthy  witnesses.  And  we 
believe  these  men  were  as  unbiased  in  their  in- 
vestigation as  any  men  would  be,  and  that  the 


The  Great  Ingathering  147 

estimates  which  they  made  are  reasonably  ac- 
curate. 

In  the  third  issue  of  the  Christian  Almanac 
published  in  the  year  1823  is  found  a  most  in- 
teresting and  significant  statement :  "  There 
are  in  our  several  American  colleges  something 
like  two  thousand  students,  about  one-fourth 
of  which  are  professors  of  religion.  JS'early 
three-fourths  of  the  students  are  confessedly 
not  pious  though  many  of  them  are  the  sons 
of  pious  parents."  It  is  to  be  noted  that  this 
condition  of  things  existed  nearly  eight  years 
after  the  formation  of  the  Education  Society, 
and  after  the  most  strenuous  effort  had  been 
exerted  on  the  part  of  the  churches  to  increase 
the  number  of  students  studying  for  the  min- 
istry. It  must  have  been  much  lower  before 
the  Society  began  its  work.  In  the  year  1824 
there  appears  in  the  almanac  another  tabu- 
lated view  of  the  colleges  which  we  present 
verbatim : 

COLLEGE  STATISTICS   FOR  THE   YEAR  BEGIN- 
NING 1824 


Names  of  Colleges  Number  of  Professing 

students  Christians 


Bowdoin,  Me. 

120 

20 

Waterville,  Me. 

21 

J 11 

Dartmouth,  N.  H. 

138 

63 

Burlington,  Vt. 

42 

10 

Middlebury,  Vt. 

87 

58 

148      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 


Williams,  Mass. 

78 

39 

Harvard  Uni.,  Camb.,Mass. 

302 

9 

Brown  Uni.,  Prov.,  R.  I. 

156 

39 

Yale,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

373 

115 

Union,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

234 

66 

Columbia,  New  York  City. 

123 

Hamilton,  Paris,  N.  Y. 

107 

45 

Princeton,  N.  J. 

127 

18 

Jefferson,  Canonsb.,  Pa. 

100 

23 

Dickinson,  Carlisle,  Pa. 

75 

40 

"Western  Uni.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

15 

Columbian,  Dist.  of  Col. 

62 

18 

Hampden,  Sydney,  Va. 

104 

24 

Washington,  Lex.,  Va. 

60 

N.  C.  Uni.,  Chapel  Hill 

106 

6 

S.  C.  College,  Columbia 

120 

Franklin,  Athens.  Georgia 

120 

8 

Greenville,  Tenn. 

50 

Transylvania,  Lex.,  Ky. 

221 

16 

Ohio  Uni.,  Athens,  0. 

70 

3011 

628 

If  from  the  total  number  of  students  we  de- 
duct those  in  colleges  giving  no  returns  respect- 
ing the  number  of  professing  Christians,  the 
figures  are  :  Total  number  of  students  2573 ; 
number  of  professing  Christians  628,  which 
would  be  somewhat  less  than  twenty-five  per 
cent.,  or  one-fourth  of  the  whole  number.  The 
number  of  colleges  listed  indicates  at  once  the 
thoroughness  of  the  investigation.  In  com- 
paring the  same  colleges  in  the  two  lists,  we 
find  that  the  percentage  is  slightly  smaller  in 
the  last.  If  we  separate  this  group  of  twelve 
colleges,  common  to  both  lists  by  the  boundary 
of  New  England,  it  is  further  found  that  the 


The  Great  Ingathering  149 

percentage  drops  slightly  in  the  New  England 
group  and  remains  practically  the  same  in  the 
colleges  considered  outside  of  New  England. 
While  there  is  apparently  a  slight  gain  when 
all  the  colleges  are  considered,  it  is  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  wave  of  revival  interest 
which  swept  the  eastern  colleges  early  in  the 
third  decade  manifests  itself  in  a  more  marked 
degree  in  the  colleges  outside  of  New  England 
later  on. 

STATISTICS    FOR  THE   YEAR  1827.^ 


,7.  ^  r,  77  Number  of  Professors  of 

Name  of  College  ^^^^^J  _g^; -^  .^,^ 


Harvard, 

199 

Yale, 

329 

87 

Dartmouth, 

165 

55 

Williams, 

85 

45 

Bowdoin, 

110 

28 

Middlebury, 

87 

46 

Vermont  University, 

44 

Brown, 

97 

14 

Amherst, 

170 

115 

1286  390 


In  connection  with  this  statistical  estimate 
there  is  a  very  important  and  interesting  state- 
ment :  "  In  addition  to  those  who  are  pro- 
fessors of  religion  there  are  more  than  fifty 
others  in  several  of  the  colleges  who  have,  it  is 
hoped,  recently  become  pious.     Of  those  who 

^  Quarterly  Register,  Vol.  1,  p.  26. 


150      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

have  graduated  the  present  year  one-third  are 
professors  of  religion  and  most  of  them  will  go 
into  the  ministry.  A  few  years  ago  this  pro- 
jpOTtion  was  only  one-fifth  or  one-sixth;  the  dif- 
ference is  owing  to  the  efforts  of  the  Education 
Society."  ^  It  is  to  be  noted  that  this  estimate 
embraces  only  the  colleges  for  New  England. 
Of  the  undergraduates  of  these  colleges  a  little 
over  one-third  were  professors  of  religion. 
The  next  year,  1828,  reports  were  received 
from  nearly  all  of  the  colleges  of  the  country. 
In  the  following  list  we  have  omitted  those  col- 
leges making  partial  returns. 

For  the  year  1828  the  following  list  is  given  : 


College 

Students 

Professors 
of  Religion 

Waterville, 

36 

11 

Bowdoiii, 

96 

28 

Dartmouth, 

142 

53 

Middlebury, 

81 

41 

W^illiams, 

86 

34 

Amherst, 

209 

126 

Brown, 

100 

16 

Yale, 

335 

72 

Washington,  Conn. 

71 

12 

University  of  Vt., 

40 

20 

Union, 

205 

60 

Hamilton, 

90 

45 

Rutgers, 

71 

9 

Princeton, 

79 

20 

Columbian, 

57 

12 

University  of  Va,, 

31 

3 

University  of  N.  C., 

77 

4 

Charleston, 

18 

1 

Quarterly  Register,  1827,  Vol.  1,  p.  28. 


The  Great  Ingathering  151 

Geneva,  26  4 

Dickinson,  109  12 

Jefferson,  101  43 

Washington,  Pa.  39  9 

Western,  50  7 

Alleghany,  12  1 

University  of  Ga.,  102  40 

Miami,  54  20 

2317  703 


This  explanatory  note  is  appended  to  the 
list :  "  It  was  stated,  as  many  of  you  will  re- 
member, in  the  last  number  of  the  Journal^ 
that  about  one-third  of  the  young  men  in  the 
New  England  colleges  are  professors  of  re- 
ligion. Our  information  from  the  middle, 
southern  and  western  colleges  is  much  less  par- 
ticular, but  we  fear  that  not  more  than  six  or 
seven  hundred  of  the  whole  three  thousand  in- 
cluded in  our  present  estimate  are  now  on  the 
Lord's  side ;  more  than  three  to  one  are  still  his 
enemies^^  This  and  subsequent  statements 
made  in  the  Register^  with  corroborating  evi- 
dence from  many  sources,  completely  confirms 
the  opinion  already  advanced  in  this  chapter 
that  the  state  of  religion  in  ]^ew  England  was 
much  higher  than  in  institutions  elsewhere. 
The  variation  in  the  proportion  of  professing 
Christians  in  the  various  colleges  is  easily  ex- 
plained by  the  presence  or  lack  of  revival  in- 
terest in  these  institutions. 

1  Quarterly  Register,  1828,  p.  38. 


152      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

This  long  period  of  thirty  years  is  replete 
with  interesting  facts  incident  to  the  era  of  re- 
vivals. In  some  institutions  these  periodic 
spiritual  awakenings  so  followed  each  other 
that  scarcely  a  class  graduated  without  the 
characteristic  uplift  and  inspiration.  There 
was  less  personal  work  among  the  students, 
surely  fewer  Christian  students  matriculated, 
and  there  was  little  definite  organization  for 
spiritual  purposes.  Without  discounting  the 
beneficent  results  of  these  revivals,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  their  spasmodic  and  ofttimes  sensa- 
tional nature  produced  abnormal  conditions. 
Infidelity  seemed  very  largely  conquered,  and  a 
frank  and  honest  responsiveness  took  its  place. 
The  religious  problem  was  simpler ;  there  were 
fewer  denominations,  greater  democracy  of 
spirit,  a  similarity  in  home  and  church  train- 
ing, and  a  homogeneity  of  blood  and  custom 
absolutely  unknown  to-day.  The  general 
prosperity  was  uninterrupted  by  serious  polit- 
ical changes.  Immigration  had  not  perceptibly 
a£Pected  the  religious  life.  The  conditions  in 
general  were  exceedingly  favorable  to  the 
deepening  of  the  spiritual  life. 

We  have  shown  in  the  two  preceding  chap- 
ters that  the  opening  years  of  the  new  century 
were  signally  marked  by  unrest  and  agitation. 
The  second  quarter  of  the  century  was  charac- 
terized by  the  spirit  of  organization.     There 


The  Great  Ingathering  153 

was  a  precipitation  and  crystallization  of  senti- 
ment which  formed  the  basis  of  an  organic  de- 
velopment seen  in  nearly  every  department  of 
thought  and  activity.  The  temperance  move- 
ment was  carefully  organized  and  accomplished 
a  result  hardly  short  of  a  revolution.  The 
missionary  agencies  multiplied  and  grew  effi- 
cient. The  church,  which  formerly  was 
opened  only  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  be- 
came the  center  of  many  new  interests  in  the 
community.  The  lyceum  and  debating  clubs 
sprang  into  existence  in  almost  every  commu- 
nity. Commercial  interests  yielded  to  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  era  of  individualism 
in  mechanical  industries  rapidly  waned,  though 
combinations  of  capital  and  divisions  of  labor 
were  still  concerns  of  the  morrow.  Political 
and  religious  affairs  were  again  assuming  a  set- 
tled condition,  and  the  future  looked  bright. 

Though  the  actual  ratio  of  professing  Chris- 
tians in  this  period  falls  somewhat  below  what 
it  is  at  present,  it  was  steadily  rising,  and  there 
was  the  brightest  prospect  that  the  favorable 
conditions  would  long  continue.  It  was  ex- 
tremely fortunate  that  such  a  period  of  recov- 
ery and  development  preceded  the  troublesome 
times  which  followed.  Amid  these  more  favor- 
able conditions  the  leaders  were  in  training  for 
the  problems,  perplexities  and  perils  of  a  new 
era. 


PEEPLEXIISTG  PEOBLEMS  AISTD  PECUL- 
IAR PERILS,  OR  THE  PERIOD  OF 
ADAPTATIOJST  1850-1876 


"  These  characteristics  of  the  period  may  fitly  be  borne  in 
mind  as  we  consider  the  religious  life  of  these  days,  and 
esj)ecially  as  we  view  it  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  most 
recent  years.  There  was,  at  that  time,  more  individuality 
and  less  of  the  combination  of  forces,  than  there  is  to-day  ; 
more  of  private  effort  directed  to  personal  development,  I 
think,  and  less  of  organized  working  for  the  common  well- 
being  ;  more,  certainly  of  limitation,  both  in  thought  and 
labor,  to  the  world  within  academic  walls,  and  less  of  the 
outgoing  of  both  towards  the  needs  of  the  world  just  beyond 
these  walls.  There  was  more  of  Christian  thoughtfulness  as 
compared  with  Christian  activity,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  rely 
upon  my  memory  and  impressions,  more  of  serious  reflec- 
tion on  the  inner  life  and  its  growth  and  progress.  But 
there  was  less  of  the  freeness  and  largeness  of  Christian  love 
as  compared  with  the  bondage  of  law,  and  less  of  the  confi- 
dence and  joyousness  of  Christian  hope  in  its  contrast  to 
self -examining  questionings  and  self -distrustful  fears." — 
Timothy  Dwight,  "  The  College  3Ian^s  Religion  Half  a  Century 
Ago,''  The  Sunday  School  Times,  Sept.  21,  1901. 

"There  is  no  nobler  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  Ameri- 
can  college  than  the  chapter  which  tells  in  glowing  phrases 
of  the  college  boys  who  went  forth  from  college  hall  to  the 
camp  :  who  marched  from  the  Commencement  platform  to 
the  field  of  battle.  One  may  read  the  record  of  them  in  the 
Memorial  Halls  of  Cambridge  and  at  Brunswick,  and  one 
may  read  the  song  memorial  of  them  in  the  Commemoration 
Ode.  It  was  not  alone  from  the  North  that  these  men  went 
forth.  One  reads  in  the  catalogues  of  the  colleges  of  Vir- 
ginia name  after  name  upon  page  after  page  having  the 
simple  record  :  wounded  in  The  Wilderness  :  killed  at  Ma- 
nassas :  killed  at  Cold  Harbor." — Fres.  C.  F.  Thwing,  The 
American  College  in  American  Life,  p.  306. 


CHAPTEE  YIII 

PERPLEXING  PROBLEMS  AND  PECULIAR 

PERILS,  OR  THE  PERIOD  OF 

ADAPTATION 

For  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  new  century, 
uniformity  chiefly  characterized  the  religious 
life  of  the  American  colleges.  There  were 
many  and  important  changes  largely  incident 
to  the  normal  development  of  the  student  ini- 
tiative, the  increasing  power  and  prestige  of 
the  college,  the  results  of  the  ethical  and  re- 
ligious movements  of  the  earlier  years,  and  the 
organic  growth  of  political  institutions.  Do- 
mestic and  social  life  were  comparatively 
simple.  The  population  was  scattered  and 
largely  rural.  Means  of  communication  were 
few  and  imperfect.  The  local  town  and 
county  papers  exerted  a  powerful  influence. 
Considering  the  country  as  a  whole  the  people 
were  largely  Protestant,  American  and  homo- 
geneous. The  few  Catholics  were  widely  dis- 
persed and  possessed  but  little  power.  Immi- 
gration had  been  small  for  many  years  and 
generally  from  those  peoples  most  in  sympathy 
with  the  purposes  and  aims  of  the  old-time 
settlers.  Side  by  side  stood  the  schoolhouse 
157 


158      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

and  the  meeting-house,  with  the  town  house 
near  by,  the  exemplification  of  the  civil  and 
religious  liberties  of  the  people.  The  Church 
had  gathered  strength  with  the  passage  of  the 
years,  new  zeal  had  been  kindled  by  frequent 
revivals,  and  successful  results  had  crowned 
the  labors  of  the  leaders  of  reform  and  relig- 
ious movements.  The  writers  of  the  period 
give  frequent  expression  to  the  prevalent 
optimism.  Such  in  general  were  the  condi- 
tions which  obtained  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  half  of  the  century. 

The  period  now  under  consideration  involves 
many  new  and  interesting  conditions  and  in- 
cludes many  potent  agencies  which  exerted 
far-reaching  influences  for  weal  or  woe  in  the 
religious  life  of  educated  men.  Some  of  these 
conditions  and  forces  will  be  merely  suggested  ; 
others  will  be  treated  at  length.  The  years 
about  the  middle  of  the  century  mark  a  very 
well-defined  transition  and  hence  we  do  well 
to  pause  in  our  investigation  for  a  backward 
look  as  we  take  our  bearings  afresh.  Our 
retrospective  observations  bring  out  in  bold 
relief  the  educational  importance  of  two  great 
denominational  forces.  Had  this  been  an  ec- 
clesiastical history  we  should  have  long  before 
noted  the  significant  contribution  made  to  the 
religious  life  of  the  nation  by  the  Baptist  and 
Methodist  communions.     That  they  have  been 


Perplexing  Problems  159 

less  conspicuous  in  this  study  is  due  alone  to 
the  fact  that  they  did  not  become  important 
educational  influences  till  well  into  the  second 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  conse- 
quently they  furnish  but  little  material  for  the 
earlier  periods  already  treated.  After  the 
middle  of  the  century  they  exert  a  tremendous 
influence. 

The  Baptists  early  in  the  field  as  a  denomi- 
nation, though  now  the  champions  of  the 
higher  Christian  education,  for  many  years 
gave  but  little  attention  to  it.  Brown  Uni- 
versity, chartered  in  1764,  was  at  first  non- 
sectarian,  though  always  under  Baptist  control. 
Of  this  institution  but  little  direct  and  trust- 
worthy information  has  been  found  other  than 
the  fact  gleaned  from  the  earliest  statistical 
tables  and  incidental  references  that  its  per- 
centage of  Christians  was  somewhat  below 
the  average.  Colby  University,  founded  in 
1820,  is  the  next  permanent  institution.  After 
1832  there  were  about  a  dozen  more  chartered 
before  the  end  of  the  half  century.  Since 
that  date  the  denomination  has  become  one  of 
the  regnant  forces  in  the  educational  world. 

The  Methodists,  one  of  the  latest  of  the 
great  denominations  to  take  root  in  the  soil  of 
the  new  world,  has  enjoyed  a  phenomenal 
growth.  The  virile  seed  sown  in  the  stormy 
period  of  the  Kevolution  quickly  germinated, 


i6o     The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

took  deep  root,  and  soon  became  significantly 
fruitful  in  offsetting  and  counteracting  the 
baneful  influences  of  the  prevailing  infidelity. 
The  direct  and  forceful  inculcation  of  evangel- 
ical truth  with  unwavering  faith  and  burning 
zeal  was  largely  instrumental  in  kindling  the 
fires  of  revival  interest  throughout  the  land. 
With  the  rapid  increase  in  numbers  and  the 
widening  of  the  field  of  service  came  the 
urgent  demand  for  trained  workers  and  lead- 
ers. Several  small  colleges  were  founded  but 
were  not  successful.  The  Wesleyan  University 
at  Middletown,  Connecticut,  chartered  in  1831, 
was  the  first  permanent  Methodist  College. 
Henceforth  the  educational  development  of 
the  denomination  was  surprisingly  rapid.  In 
the  year  1833  two  important  institutions  came 
under  Methodist  supervision :  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  founded  in 
1783,  which  had  been  nominally  non-sectarian 
though  actually  Presbyterian,  came  under 
Methodist  control,  and  Alleghany  College  at 
Meadville,  Pennsylvania,  chartered  in  1817, 
changed,  in  the  same  year,  from  Presbyterian 
to  Methodist  management.  Other  institutions 
were  soon  established  of  which  not  less  than 
ten  became  permanent.  From  the  year  1850 
the  Methodists  rapidly  advanced  in  educational 
importance  till  to-day  they  represent  one  of 
the  most  aggressive  forces  in  Christian  educa- 


Perplexing  Problems  161 

tion  in  America  and  have  outdistanced  the 
other  denominations,  as  we  shall  later  show, 
in  the  middle  and  far  western  states. 

Other  denominations  have  also  made  notable 
contributions  to  the  cause  of  Christian  educa- 
tion among  men.  Of  these  we  can  only  say 
that  the  colleges  established  by  them  were 
founded  in  later  years  and  that  the  efficient 
Christian  service  and  consecration  found  in 
them  are  registered  and  included  in  the  tabu- 
lations and  summaries  later  given. 

The  period  of  twenty-five  years  now  under 
examination  is  not  easily  defined.  For  the 
larger  part  of  the  first  decade  conditions  re- 
mained much  the  same,  and  progress  in  spir- 
itual matters  steadily  advanced.  Eevivals 
came  but  with  lessening  influence  and  fre- 
quency. The  ratio  of  professing  Christians 
to  the  whole  body  of  students  slowly  rose. 
The  quality  of  the  individual  spiritual  experi- 
ence gained  rather  than  lost  in  tone  and  char- 
acter. About  this  time,  perhaps  a  little  earlier, 
there  was  an  unusually  large  circulation  of 
treatises  in  various  forms  dealing  especially 
with  the  relation  of  young  men  to  the  Church. 
At  least  a  dozen  books  of  this  type  passed  into 
many  editions  and  exerted  a  powerful  influ- 
ence. Beecher's  "Lectures  to  Young  Men," 
which  appeared  in  1845,  was  translated  into 
sixteen  languages  and  reached  a  circulation  of 


l62      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

more  than  a  million  copies.  From  these  we 
discover  that  the  prevailing  form  of  the  spir- 
itual life  was  more  emphatically  introspective 
and  individual.  Meditation  on  one's  motives 
and  feelings  and  contemplation  of  spiritual 
things  were  forcibly  urged.  These  treatises 
which  appealed  so  powerfully  to  the  young 
men  of  fifty  years  ago  would  scarcely  find  a 
reader  among  the  same  class  to-day,  such  has 
been  the  revolution  in  the  ideals  of  and  in- 
centives to  the  higher  life.  Something  has 
been  lost  but  certainly  much  has  been  gained 
in  this  change  of  spiritual  attitude.  The 
former  habits  of  devotion  so  fruitful  of  good 
results  have  given  place  to  the  more  practical 
exercises  of  the  faith.  In  consequence  thereof 
many  unfortunately  have  essayed  to  build  the 
religious  superstructure  without  the  stable 
foundations  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  heart 
searchings,  prayers  and  devotions  of  David 
Brainerd  represent  a  type  of  religious  life  quite 
common  a  half  century  ago,  but  now  largely  a 
matter  of  history.  And  as  one  reads  of  the 
successes  of  Brainerd  among  the  Indians  at 
Stockbridge  and  elsewhere  the  query  arises 
whether  the  highest  type  of  religious  life  does 
not  consist  in  the  vital  union  of  the  old  and 
the  new  in  the  coming  knight  of  the  cross. 

Suddenly  there  came  the  alarming  interrup- 
tion of  these  favorable  conditions.     A  great 


Perplexing  Problems  163 

cloud  had  been  gathering  over  the  Southland. 
The  rumble  of  the  thunders  of  war  was  heard 
with  dismay  all  over  the  land.  The  darkness 
deepened,  unrelieved  save  by  the  occasional 
lightning  flashes  of  hope  that  the  impending 
evil  might  yet  be  diverted,  and  then  followed 
the  awful  hush  which  precedes  the  outbreak 
of  the  storm.  A  strife  so  intensely  fraternal 
could  have  no  other  result  than  the  absorption 
of  the  attention  and  thought  of  the  whole 
people.  As  the  war  became  more  and  more 
inevitable  interest  in  religious  matters  began 
to  wane.  One  would  naturally  think  that 
such  an  awful  national  crisis  would  have 
brought  the  nation  to  its  knees  before  God. 
It  did  produce  this  effect  upon  multitudes,  but 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  for  the  time  sub- 
stituted patriotism  for  religion.  How  far  the 
two  were  joined  it  is  impossible  now  to  say. 
In  many  cases,  as  in  the  martyred  president, 
patriotism  became  religion.  In  too  many  in- 
stances, however,  the  exciting  scenes  of  the 
battle-field,  military  ambition  and  increasing 
dissipations  crowded  out  the  truer  thoughts  of 
God.  Freedom  from  the  restraints  of  common 
life  opened  the  door  to  license.  And  the  latter 
ushered  in  a  pernicious  and  permanent  train  of 
consequences,  often  involving  a  bondage  more 
painful  and  disastrous  than  that  which  the 
black  man  suffered.     Anyway,  the  effect  of  the 


164      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

war  was  registered  in  reduced  accessions  to 
church-membership,  in  the  increase  of  religious 
indifference,  and  the  partial  paralysis  of  Chris- 
tian work.  In  making  such  a  statement  we 
are  not  forgetful  of  the  grand  work  of  the 
Christian  Commission  and  the  loyal  and  effi- 
cient service  in  the  King's  name  in  camp  and 
on  battle-field,  nor  of  the  positive  and  vigor- 
ous work  of  the  churches.  But  the  war  with 
its  antecedents  and  consequences  spread  out 
over  a  long  period  of  years  and  caused  the 
most  serious  interruption  to  the  ordinary  work 
of  the  Church  and  the  college.  For  the  time 
being  the  absorbing  interest  in  the  war  was 
well-nigh  complete. 

The  war  in  itself  was  sufficient  to  check  the 
enthusiasm  and  to  stay  the  progress  of  spiritual 
affairs.  But  contemporaneous  with  the  war 
came  the  rising  flood-tide  of  immigration.  The 
war  produced  the  most  complex  and  difficult 
problems,  taxing  the  statesmanship  of  the 
country  to  the  utmost.  But  a  greater  problem 
was  involved  in  the  proper  assimilation  of 
hordes  of  immigrants  who  came  by  the  tens 
of  thousands  to  the  land  of  the  free.  From 
the  distractions  and  demoralization  of  the  civil 
war,  time  and  patience  would  eventually  work 
relief,  but  the  problem  of  the  immigrant  was 
too  intricate  and  far-reaching  for  even  the 
promise    of    speedy    solution.     The    glorious 


Perplexing  Problems  165 

ideal  of  our  national  motto,  E  Phcribus 
JJmim^  has  lost  nothing  of  its  luster  with  the 
passing  of  the  years,  though  its  attainment 
civically,  ethically  and  religiously  has  grown 
more  difficult  with  every  decade  of  the  past 
fifty  years. 

The  tide  of  immigration  set  in  with  aston- 
ishing power  before  the  century  was  a  third 
past,  rolling  in  with  immense  billows  from 
1840  to  1860.  The  character  of  the  early  immi- 
grants caused  little  solicitude.  In  many  cases 
they  made  a  direct  contribution  to  the  ideals 
and  the  principles  of  a  free  government.  So 
long  as  they  were  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people  and  the  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  the  time  their  assimilation  was  not 
difficult.  But  the  character  of  the  immigrant 
soon  changed.  He  came  to  this  country  an 
alien  in  language,  and  as  much  so  in  thought 
and  practice.  The  effect  of  the  immigration 
was  slowly  realized,  and  with  the  attention 
diverted  to  the  war  the  real  import  of  the 
problem  was  little  understood.  Gradually  it 
dawned  upon  the  leaders  that  the  country  was 
face  to  face  with  a  very  troublesome  and  mo- 
mentous issue.  Other  nations  have  absorbed 
incoming  peoples  and,  when  the  time  has  been 
long  extended,  have  been  the  gainers  thereby. 
Whenever  the  period  has  been  short,  there  has 
come,  as  in  the  history  of  England,  an  amal- 


l66      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

gamation  with  a  product  unlike  either  con- 
stituent, or  the  absorption  if  not  annihilation 
of  the  old,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Eoman  Em- 
pire. In  America  the  immigration  has  been 
most  rapid,  it  has  been  from  various  classes 
and  conditions  of  men,  and  yet,  happily,  the 
distinctly  American  ideals  have  not  been  lost, 
and  with  a  most  surprising  success  American 
institutions  have  transformed  the  most  hetero- 
geneous masses  into  loyal  citizens. 

The  effect  religiously  of  this  influx  of 
strange  peoples  has  not  as  yet  been  accurately 
examined  nor  convincingly  stated,  but  it  may 
be  safely  said  that  the  direct  and  indirect  in- 
fluences of  immigration  have  been  powerfully 
felt  by  the  Church.  It  might  most  reasonably 
be  anticipated  that  the  incoming  of  multitudes 
of  alien  faith  with  customs  respecting  temper- 
ance, purity.  Sabbath  observance  and  many 
other  practices  in  many  cases  violently  antag- 
onistic to  the  existing  order,  would  cause  such 
a  spiritual  deterioration  that  it  would  every- 
where be  seen.  Simply  from  the  numerical 
standpoint  it  would  be  expected  that  the  ratio 
of  professors  of  religion  to  the  total  popula- 
tion would  gradually  fall.  These  effects  are 
surely  noted  but  to  the  credit  of  the  workers 
of  the  day  in  no  such  marked  degree  as  might 
have  been  anticipated.  The  students  matricu- 
lated in  the  various  colleges  were  no  longer 


Perplexing  Problems  167 

mainly  from  the  old  families  of  established 
faith.  The  community  religion  was  undergo- 
ing a  most  radical  change.  Sects  were  rapidly 
multiplying  and  the  greatest  diversity  of  opin- 
ion prevailed.  These  conditions  gradually  ob- 
tained in  the  colleges.  Of  course  it  took  some 
years  before  many  of  the  children  of  the  new 
settlers  sought  a  college  education,  but  the 
unsettled  conditions  made  religious  enterprise 
less  successful  and  more  difficult. 

The  providential  provision  for  these  unseen 
difficulties  is  remarkably  apparent  in  the 
"  student  initiative,"  the  organization  of  the 
religiously  minded  students  for  definite  per- 
sonal work,  the  spiritual  activity  of  the  boards 
of  instruction,  the  "Day  of  Prayer  for  Col- 
leges "  and  the  thought  and  the  prayer  of  the 
churches  for  the  schools.  Then,  too,  singularly 
enough,  just  at  the  time  when  the  need  was 
not  apparent  but  in  providential  preparation 
for  it,  arose  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, an  organization  which  has  been  of  in- 
estimable value  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the 
Church  in  the  past  half  century.  The  char- 
acteristic uniformity  of  religious  conditions  for 
many  years  had  given  the  necessary  time  for 
the  crystallization  of  principles  and  the  firm 
establishment  of  religious  institutions.  The 
great  reforms,  concerning  which  reference  has 
already  been  made  in  preceding  chapters,  had 


l68      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

shaped  public  opinion  to  such  a  degree  that 
there  was  a  strong  fortification  against  the 
looser  morals  and  religious  customs  introduced 
by  the  immigrants.  Had  these  conditions  been 
otherwise  how  could  the  distinctively  Ameri- 
can ideals  have  been  preserved  ? 

Certain  changes  within  college  halls  should 
also  be  carefully  noted.  Time  was  when 
nearly  every  institution  represented  some  de- 
nominational faith.  In  the  earlier  years  many 
of  the  colleges  were  for  all  practical  purposes 
theological  seminaries,  and  the  candidate  for 
ordination  required  but  a  few  months  of  resi- 
dent study  with  some  acting  pastor  before 
entering  the  sacred  office.  Many  of  the 
studies  were  distinctively  theological  while 
almost  all  were  such  in  type  of  thought.  In 
the  earlier  days  with  rare  exception  the  in- 
structors were  recruited  from  the  active  pas- 
torate. The  president  as  a  matter  of  course 
and  the  major  part  of  the  faculty  were  theo- 
logically trained.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  a 
man's  theological  status  more  largely  deter- 
mined his  appointment  to,  and  his  retention 
in,  a  college  professorship  than  the  intellectual 
qualifications  for  the  special  branch  which  he 
was  to  teach. 

The  change  in  this  respect  began  at  least 
fifty  years  ago  and  became  marked  before  the 
conclusion  of  the  period  under  consideration. 


Perplexing  Problems  169 

This  fact  in  itself  is  worthy  of  careful  thought. 
Undoubtedly  the  modern  regime  has  made 
large  contribution  to  educational  efficiency, 
notwithstanding  the  loss  which  has  been  sus- 
tained in  religious  proficiency.  The  principles 
of  progress  demand  experts  in  the  teaching 
corps  of  our  colleges,  yet  the  query  arises, 
What  is  the  ultimate  purpose  of  a  college  edu- 
cation ?  If  trained  manhood,  then  surely  the 
colleges  can  never  safely  ignore  the  ethical  and 
religious  character  of  the  man  who  teaches. 
What  is  required  is  both  teaching  power  and 
manhood  influence  in  the  trainer  of  3^oung 
men  in  the  college.  Happily  this  desired 
combination  characterizes  the  teachers  in 
many  of  our  higher  institutions,  and  to  such 
wise  parents  will  send  their  sons. 

It  should  be  noted  that  most  of  these 
changes,  while  rooted  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
first  half  of  the  century,  did  not  manifest 
themselves  till  about  the  time  of  the  outbreak 
of  the  civil  war  or  subsequently.  Within  the 
college  halls  religious  conditions  steadily  im- 
proved, or  at  least  remained  much  the  same, 
till  the  year  1860.  There  is  plenty  of  evidence 
to  prove  this  were  such  proof  necessary.  In 
illustration  it  may  be  worth  while  to  refer  to 
statistics  carefully  gleaned  from  the  New 
England  colleges,  by  Dr.  William  S.  Tyler,  in 
the  years  1852  and  1859  : 


lyo      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

STATISTICS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1852  ^ 


^  „  Number  of  Professors  of 

^*^"^^^  Students  Religion 


Bowdoin  College 

152 

37 

Waterville  College 

86 

46 

University  of  Vermont 

123 

30 

Middlebury  College 

60 

35 

Amherst  College 

187 

113 

Williams  College 

207 

106 

Brown  University 

243 

80 

Harvard  College 

319 

30 

Yale  College 

446 

130 

Wesleyan  University 

103 

78 

Dartmouth  College 

237 

60 

Total  2,163  745 

Statistics  were  gathered  from  the  same  col- 
leges seven  years  later. 

STATISTICS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1859  ^ 


^  „  Number  of  Professors  of 

^'^"^^^  Students  Religion 


Bowdoin  College 

215 

75 

Waterville  College 

117 

52 

University  of  Vermont 

91 

32 

Middlebury  College 

103 

55 

Amherst  College 

258 

166 

Williams  College 

244 

149 

Brown  University 

212 

83 

Harvard  College 

431 

100 

Yale  College 

502 

299 

Wesleyan  University 

138 

112 

Dartmouth  College 

299 

100 

Total  2,610  1,223 

1  Prayer  for  Colleges,  W.  S.  Tyler,  D,  D.,  p.  136, 

2  Ibid.,  p.  227. 


Perplexing  Problems  17 1 

A  comparison  of  these  two  tabulations  is 
most  interesting.  In  the  former  only  about 
thirty-three  per  cent,  are  professing  Christians. 
In  the  latter  the  percentage  rises  to  about 
forty-six,  indicating  a  most  remarkable  gain. 
Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  colleges 
considered  are  all  in  New  England,  and  that 
statistics  from  all  the  institutions  of  learning 
in  the  country  would  certainly  lower  the  ratio 
of  professing  Christians,  we  have,  then,  from 
the  best  authority  which  the  country  afforded 
at  the  time,  certain  estimates  of  great  value. 
If  Dr.  Tyler  is  anywhere  near  accurate  in  his 
statistics,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  question 
them,  then  it  may  be  quite  safely  assumed 
that  not  more  than  thirty-three  per  cent,  of 
the  college  students  of  the  land  were  enrolled 
as  professing  Christians  in  the  year  1850. 
There  is  considerable  reason  to  believe  that 
this  ratio  is  somewhat  too  large,  but  the  figure 
is  easily  remembered  and  very  convenient  and 
will  therefore  be  accepted  with  the  qualifica- 
tions suggested.  Convinced  that  the  number 
of  the  hypocritical  professors  would  be  sub- 
stantially offset  by  the  number  of  secret  and 
silent  followers  of  Christ,  we  believe  that  these 
estimates  are  reasonably  satisfactory. 

A  further  study  of  the  figures  will  show  a 
remarkable  gain  in  the  ratio  during  the  sixth 
decade  of  the  century.     Just  before  the  out- 


172      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

break  of  the  civil  war  the  percentage  had 
risen  to  forty-six,  and  hopes  were  high  and 
often  expressed  that  the  rapid  increase  would 
continue.  The  great  changes  above  indicated 
made  this  absolutely  impossible.  For  a  score 
of  years  the  ratio  was  scarcely  sustained,  and 
yet  to  have  accomplished  that,  in  spite  of  the 
radical  changes  and  the  great  difficulties  with 
which  the  college  and  the  Church  contended, 
is  most  surprising.  Those  who  fail  to  take 
into  consideration  these  great  political  and 
religious  changes  are  disqualified  from  pro- 
nouncing on  the  religious  trend  in  college  life. 
That  the  colleges  and  the  churches  were  able 
to  meet  those  adverse  conditions  with  so  slight 
an  interruption  to  the  religious  advance  shows 
clearly  the  sturdy  and  uncompromising  ad- 
herence to  the  best  traditions  of  the  past  and 
the  high  ideals  of  the  future. 

So  radical  has  been  the  change  in  the  past 
fifty  years  concerning  the  whole  scope  of  the 
problem  we  are  considering  that  it  is  far  from 
easy  for  one  recently  in  the  schools  to  put  him- 
self in  sympathetic  relationship  with  the  type 
of  thought,  habits  of  life,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
college  student  of  ante-bellum  days.  It  is, 
however,  as  difficult  for  the  graduate  of  two- 
score  years  ago  to  interpret  the  religious  life 
of  the  college  of  to-day.  There  are  some  men 
who  have  been  in  constant   touch  with   the 


Perplexing  Problems  173 

higher  institutions  of  learning  for  many  years 
and  have  been  students  as  well  as  observers  of 
these  fluctuating  conditions.  ISTo  statement 
coming  under  our  observation  has  seemed  more 
discriminating  than  that  which  appeared  in  a 
recent  periodical  by  Dr.  Timothy  D  wight,  Ex- 
president  of  Yale  University.  Certainly  there 
is  no  American  better  qualified  to  speak  upon 
the  college  man's  religion  of  fifty  years  ago, 
and  few  better  able  to  draw  the  comparison 
between  the  life  then  and  now.  We  quote  at 
length  from  this  article  because  of  its  weight 
and  worth : 

"  The  class  of  which  I  was  a  member — the 
class  which  graduated  in  the  year  1849 — con- 
sisted of  about  a  hundred  members.  Of  these, 
somewhat  more  than  one-third  were  professing 
Christians  connected  with  different  churches. 
•  .  .  Probably  as  many  as  twenty  of  the 
number  had  already,  when  they  came  to  the 
institution,  a  more  or  less  definite  thought  of 
preparing  themselves  for  the  gospel  as  their 
profession  or  their  life's  work.  The  rest  were 
equally  earnest  in  their  desire  and  purpose  to 
be  of  service  in  the  world  as  Christian  disciples, 
although  they  were  intending  to  devote  their 
lives  to  other  callings.  As  for  the  remainder 
of  the  company,  they  were,  in  general,  young 
men  who  had  been  educated  in  childhood  under 
religious  influences,  and  who,  though  as  yet 


174      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

without  any  personal  experience  of  its  trans- 
forming power  within  themselves,  were  dis- 
posed to  accept  Christianity  as  the  true  system 
of  belief.  There  were  very  few  skeptics  among 
them,  and  few  who  took  any  position  of  active 
hostility  to  the  Christian  doctrine.  .  .  .  The 
same  thing,  as  to  numbers  and  general  charac- 
teristics, may  be  said  of  the  classes  which  imme- 
diately preceded  and  followed  my  own.  And 
thus  what  was  true  of  our  particular  brother- 
hood may  be  taken  as  a  representative  of  the 
condition  of  the  entire  student  community  of 
the  period." 

After  alluding  to  the  fact  that  this  was  within 
the  revival  period  when  there  was  the  hope 
and  expectation  that  no  class  would  graduate 
without  being  the  subject  of  one  or  more  such 
awakenings,  and  also  noting  the  intense  mis- 
sionary spirit,  he  follows  with  a  very  keen  and 
discriminating  estimate  of  the  contrast  between 
the  religious  life  then  and  now  : 

"This  period,  I  may  add,  was  within  the 
limits  of  the  era  when  the  religious  life  was  re- 
garded, more  exclusively  than  it  is  at  present, 
in  its  relation  to  the  interior  personality  of  the 
individual  man.  The  God-ward  side  of  the 
life  was  made  far  more  prominent  in  Christian 
thought  than  the  man-ward  side.  The  life  it- 
self as  an  abiding  reality  was  looked  for  and 
looked  at  much  more  than  any  forth-puttings  of 


Perplexing  Problems  175 

itself  in  constant  activity.  So  truly  was  this 
the  case,  indeed,  that  even  the  evidential  value 
of  the  forth-puttings,  as  proving  the  existence 
of  what  was  so  earnestly  inquired  after,  was 
oftentimes  not  fully  appreciated,  and  even  self- 
examination  confined  itself  almost  wholly  to 
sentiments  and  emotions  rather  than  to  their 
results  in  action.  The  tendency  of  the  time 
accordingly  was  to  render  young  men  intro- 
vertive,  and  to  make  their  consecration  of 
themselves  in  the  outward  sphere  to  be  a  con- 
secration to  some  great  work  of  the  future,  like 
that  of  the  ministry  or  of  missions,  which 
might,  by  its  bearings  upon  the  lifetime,  prove 
the  truth  of  the  sentiment  which  prompted  it. 
I  stated,  at  the  beginning  of  what  I  have 
written,  that  of  the  members  of  my  class  some- 
what more  than  one-third  were  Christians  in 
the  years  of  their  college  course.  Thirty  years 
later,  two-thirds  of  the  brotherhood  were  Chris- 
tian believers,  having  the  Christian  hope  and 
life.  As  I  now  look  backward  over  half  a  cen- 
tury, I  know  of  but  few  who  have  finished  the 
earthly  career  and  passed  into  the  unseen  world 
without  giving  hopeful  evidence  of  their  pos- 
session of  the  faith.  The  influence  of  the  col- 
lege years,  and  the  lessons  and  experiences  of 
the  after  years,  have  been  for  good  to  the  Yale 
class  of  1849."  ^ 

»  The  Sunday  School  Times,  Sept.  21,  1901. 


176      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

Thus  briefly  do  we  summarize  a  few  of  the 
chief  characteristics  of  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing periods  of  American  rehgious  history. 
When  distance  permits  the  sane  and  judicial 
treatment  of  these  remarkable  changes,  we  be- 
lieve it  will  be  seen  that  the  third  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century  was  an  epoch-making 
period.  The  more  familiar  one  becomes  with 
these  years,  the  deeper  grows  his  admiration 
for  the  work  and  workers  in  Church  and  State, 
and  the  more  intense  his  surprise  that  the 
churches  and  the  colleges  met  the  trying  ordeal 
so  successfully.  Only  deeply  rooted  institu- 
tions could  have  withstood  the  stress  of  such  a 
long-continued  storm.  The  misuse  of  statistics 
of  this  period  to  prove  the  decay  of  manhood 
religion  is  so  manifestly  unfair  and  positively 
misleading,  that  one  wonders  that  any  student 
of  history  should  thus  make  use  of  them.  Here 
as  elsewhere  we  have  endeavored  to  interpret 
the  meaning  of  the  figures  and  statistics  pre- 
sented. The  conditions  being  known,  the  fact 
that  the  percentage  of  professing  Christians  in 
the  colleges  was  sustained,  and  that  the  ratio 
of  males  to  females  in  the  membership  of  the 
Protestant  churches  suffered  no  decrease  from 
1860  to  1880,  probably  indicates  as  much  real 
progress  as  in  any  period  thus  far  considered. 


THE  MODEKN  AWAKEOTNG,  OR  THE 
PERIOD  OF  RECONSTRUCTION 

1875-1900 


"  I  have  often  thought  that  one  of  the  great  objects  God 
had  in  view  in  instituting  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation was  to  attract  from  the  world  into  the  Church  of 
Christ  commercial  young  men,  and  men  of  education  and 
culture  :  and  then,  having  brought  them  to  the  Saviour  and 
united  them  to  the  churches  of  Christ,  that  they  should  be 
prepared  to  go  forth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." — Sir  George 
Williams. 

"It  is  a  popular  idea  that  a  college  is  more  wicked  than 
other  places  and  a  company  of  students  more  corrupt  than 
other  classes  in  society,  and  that  a  church  in  college  is  of 
necessity,  or  in  point  of  fact,  grossly  deficient  in  godliness. 
Such  ideas  are  wholly  groundless.  These  current  notions 
spring  out  of  fallacies  which  might  easily  be  exposed.  The 
career  of  the  men  who  have  been  trained  in  college  and  in 
college  church  for  the  past  one  hundred  years,  one  would 
think,  might  serve  as  an  answer  to  such  injurious  charges." 
— Fisher,  HistoYy  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Yale  College, 

"  To  ride  abroad  redressing  human  wrongs, 
To  speak  no  slander,  nor  listen  to  it. 

To  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest  charity, 
To  teach  high  thought,  and  amiable  words 
And  courtliness,  and  the  desire  of  fame. 
And  love  of  truth,  and  all  that  makes  a  man,^^ 


CHAPTEE  IX 

THE  MODERN  AWAKENING,  OR  THE 
PERIOD  OF  RECONSTRUCTION 

Inasmuch  as  this  period  falls  within  the 
range  of  the  observation  and  experience  of 
so  many  readers,  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to 
describe  it  in  detail.  In  any  case  the  facts 
are  easily  accessible  to  the  ordinary  student 
of  the  subject.  We  would,  however,  guard 
against  the  possible  inference  that  the  brevity 
of  treatment  indicates  paucity  of  interesting 
facts.  No  other  period  is  so  rich  in  material, 
so  encouraging  in  its  facts,  so  promising  in  its 
outlook.  The  present  is  the  golden  age  of 
religious  life  in  college.  In  making  such  a 
statement  we  do  not  overlook  existing  moral 
evils  or  minimize  the  dangers  of  a  college  life. 
Neither  do  we  forget  that  there  are  many 
things  which  sadly  need  correcting.  We  do 
not  affirm  in  any  way  that  the  ideal  has  been 
attained ;  nevertheless,  we  do  believe  that  the 
present  religious  conditions  so  far  surpass 
those  of  other  days  that  we  unhesitatingly 
style  it  the  golden  age.  We  are  the  more 
positive  in  this  declaration  since  the  most 
thorough  students  of  the  subject,  from  the 
179 


i8o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

liberal  and  the  conservative  sides  alike,  reach 
the  same  conclusions.  For  one  who  has  pa- 
tiently traced  the  history  of  religious  life  in 
college  halls  for  two  and  a  half  centuries,  the 
contrast  between  the  present  and  the  past  is 
so  marked  that  it  is  no  easy  task  to  refrain 
from  emphatic  utterance  and  positive  enthu- 
siasm. 

Few  men  have  been  better  qualified  to 
speak  upon  this  subject  than  Mr.  Moody,  at 
least  from  the  conservative  side;  few  men 
were  less  likely  to  be  deceived  concerning 
genuine  spirituality,  and  we  find  no  one  more 
outspoken  in  respect  to  the  religious  advance 
in  college  life,  and  no  one  more  optimistic  of 
the  future.  A  few  months  before  his  death 
Mr.  Moody  said :  "  From  a  religious  point  of 
view  I  look  upon  the  colleges  as  the  most 
hopeful  field  in  all  the  Avorld."  His  opinion 
is  cited  because  his  decision  will  mean  much 
to  a  great  many,  and  also  because  he  had  ex- 
ceptional opportunities  for  obtaining  accurate 
information.  He  was  a  welcome  speaker  at 
the  colleges.  He  had  graduated  two  sons 
from  Yale,  he  was  personally  acquainted  with 
thousands  of  students  who  convened  annually 
at  the  student  conference  at  Northfield.  Then, 
too,  he  was  in  the  closest  touch  with  educa- 
tional experts  in  the  various  institutions.  His 
high  ideals  of  the  spiritual  life  would  most 


The  Modern  Awakening  181 

naturally  demand  a  high  standard  of  conse- 
cration. And  yet  measured  by  such  ideals 
and  by  such  a  man,  the  college  man  of  to-day 
was  approved.  And  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  during  the  latter  years  of  Mr.  Moody's 
life  his  faith  in  the  college  man's  religious 
convictions  and  consecration  grew  stronger; 
he  never  seemed  happier  than  when  in  the 
company  of  the  students ;  he  expected  great 
things  of  them  and  apparently  was  not  dis- 
appointed. More  space  is  given  to  this  one 
man's  opinion  because  of  his  unexcelled  oppor- 
tunities of  gathering  material  for  the  accurate 
estimate  of  the  worth  of  the  religious  life 
within  college  halls,  and  also  because  so  many 
of  the  best  people  of  the  land  place  so  much 
dependence  upon  his  judgment. 

While  it  would  certainly  be  unfair  to  ad- 
vance the  opinion  of  Mr.  Moody  concerning 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  college  man  as  the 
embodiment  of  the  consensus  of  the  whole 
body  of  religious  conservatives,  we  believe  that 
the  best  informed  are  most  generally  in  sub- 
stantial agreement  with  him.  Notwithstand- 
ing, we  are  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that 
there  are  many  who  take  the  opposite  view. 
Without  questioning  in  the  least  the  sincerity 
of  their  opinions,  we  hold,  nevertheless,  that, 
when  all  things  are  taken  into  consideration 
the  present  is  marked  by  a  very  positive  and 


l82      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

encouraging  advance.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  add  that  those  of  more  liberal  views 
are  rather  more  emphatic  in  the  statement 
of  their  belief  that  college  religion  is  now 
unusually  virile  and  vigorous.  Difference  of 
opinion  is  largely  due  to  the  viewpoint  from 
which  the  subject  is  seen,  and  the  peculiar 
temperament  of  the  observer.  The  type  of 
the  religious  life  is  surely  changed,  but  whether 
for  better  or  worse  is  a  matter  of  opinion  de- 
termined largely  by  the  viewpoint.  Then, 
too,  one  will  discover  in  all  probability  that 
for  which  he  specially  looks.  The  pessimist 
will  see  everything  through  a  darkened  glass, 
and  consequently  will  see  inaccurately.  The 
habitual  optimist  is  every  whit  as  much  dis- 
qualified, for  he,  too,  will  suffer  from  distorted 
vision. 

In  making  an  estimate  of  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  religious  interest  in  college  to-day, 
certain  things  should  ever  be  kept  in  mind. 
The  age  of  exuberant  animal  spirits  is  more 
marked  by  excesses  than  any  other  in  the 
human  life.  The  period  of  adolescence  and 
the  years  which  immediately  follow  are 
recognized  by  experts  as  the  stress  period  of 
life.  On  the  one  side  there  is  freedom  from 
domestic,  parental  and  certain  social  restraints 
and  restrictions  ;  on  the  other  band  there  is  the 
sobering    effect    of    actual  contact  with  the 


The  Modern  Awakening  183 

serious  realities  and  responsibilities  of  life 
which  come  when  college  days  are  over. 
Between  these  two  limits  is  the  age  when  the 
animal  spirits  act  most  imperiously,  before  the 
better  self  has  been  enthroned  as  master. 
Consequently  many  students,  victims  of  ex- 
cesses and  indiscretions  in  college  days,  after- 
wards become  the  most  reliable  of  citizens  and 
the  most  sincere  advocates  and  earnest  pro- 
moters of  every  worthy  cause.  The  college 
man  is  not  the  only  one  who  suffers  occasional 
lapse  from  that  which  is  true  and  noble,  but 
because  of  his  position  his  failure  is  far  more 
conspicuous. 

Again  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
college  man  is  in  nowise  as  bad  as  he  is  gen- 
erally represented  to  be.  This  is  recognized 
by  those  in  touch  with  the  student  life,  but  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  draw  their  con- 
clusions from  hearsay  and  press  reports.  Now 
every  college  escapade  is  published  broadcast 
over  the  land.  The  dozen  dissipated  students 
furnish  more  reportorial  material  for  the 
metropolitan  newspapers  than  one  hundred 
men  faithfully  and  quietly  doing  their  routine 
work.  Of  the  latter  little  or  nothing  is  heard 
of  striking  interest  during  the  college  period, 
though  a  score  of  years  later  they  will  be  the 
makers  and  leaders  of  public  opinion.  The 
former  cut  a  large  figure  in  the  current  news 


184      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

of  the  day,  are  conspicuous  on  all  occasions, 
but  in  after  years  are  listed  among  the  un- 
knowns, if  they  fail  to  reform ;  or  if  coming 
to  themselves  and  laboriously  winning  a  good 
name  and  fair  fame,  their  relation  to  the 
college  is  subsequently  forgotten.  It  is  con- 
ceded that  there  is  no  particular  reason  for 
repeated  publication  of  facts  concerning  the 
scores  of  consecrated  men  who  under  regular 
appointment  go  forth  from  our  colleges  in 
deputations  to  minister  to  the  needy  in  insti- 
tutes, chapels  and  mission  halls.  Such  work  is 
not  advertised  under  "  scare  lines "  in  the 
newspapers.  The  ordinary  patron  does  not 
purchase  his  paper  for  such  information,  and 
if  his  attention  is  directed  to  it,  it  fails  to  make 
a  deep  impression.  The  result  is  that  the 
reading  public  is  grossly  misled  by  the  fre- 
quency and  exciting  character  of  the  reports 
of  student  excesses  and  at  length  estimates 
all  college  men  by  the  type  with  which  it  is 
most  familiar.  This  is  exceedingly  unfortu- 
nate, and  every  friend  of  higher  education 
should  exercise  his  power  to  correct  this 
false  impression.  In  all  probability  there  is 
no  place  away  from  home,  where  a  young 
man  is  safer,  his  whole  welfare  being  taken 
into  consideration,  than  at  college. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  modern  type 
of  college  religion  deserves  careful  consider- 


The  Modern  Awakening  185 

ation.  Eepeatedly  has  the  reader  been  re- 
minded of  the  evolution  of  the  "student 
initiative."  Attention  was  called  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  colonial  college  all  religious  exer- 
cises were  strictly  compulsory  even  to  require- 
ment respecting  Bible  reading  and  private 
devotions.  The  change  from  the  former  re- 
gime has  been  most  radical  and  far-reaching. 
To-day  in  many  of  the  leading  institutions  all 
religious  services  and  exercises  are  voluntary. 
The  removal  of  long-existing  restrictions  and 
regulations  in  respect  to  religious  aifairs  in 
college  has  resulted  as  might  be  expected. 
There  have  been  some  who  have  turned  liberty 
into  license,  and  have  abused  the  privileges 
granted.  ^Notwithstanding,  the  query  arises, 
Would  they  have  been  the  better  by  com- 
pulsory attendance  at  services  in  which  they 
had  no  interest  ?  With  many  compulsion  in 
matters  of  conscience  works  more  harm  than 
good.  But  surely  with  those  who  seek  these 
services  and  exercises  from  choice,  there  is 
derived  a  benefit  which  could  be  secured  in  no 
other  way.  Whatever  may  be  the  private 
opinion  concerning  this  change,  it  is  obvious 
that  it  will  soon  prevail  in  about  all  the  in- 
stitutions. This,  however,  may  be  said,  that 
at  Harvard  where  the  change  was  first  in- 
augurated, and  where  the  experiment  has  been 
most  carefully  watched,  the  results  have  been 


l86      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

highly  satisfactory.  It  is  claimed  by  those 
best  qualified  to  pass  judgment  on  the  volun- 
tary method  at  Harvard  that  there  has  been  a 
positive  gain  in  the  respect  and  reverence  for 
holy  things,  and  that  religion  makes  a  more 
vigorous,  rational  and  persuasive  appeal  to  the 
manhood  of  the  college.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  the  gain  in  spiritual  quality  will 
far  more  than  offset  the  loss  in  quantity.  And 
it  may  yet  be  proven  that  the  winsome  and 
virile  characteristics  of  the  Christian  faith  may 
attract  larger  numbers  than  could  possibly  be 
secured  under  any  form  of  compulsion. 

The  connection  between  the  college  and  the 
Church  is  not  as  intimate  as  formerly.  Grad- 
ually for  the  last  one  hundred  years  has  the 
separation  widened.  The  teaching  force  is  not, 
as  was  once  the  case,  drawn  largely  from  the 
active  pastorate,  l^ow,  comparatively  few  are 
theologically  trained.  The  ratio  of  under- 
graduates in  preparation  for  the  ministry  is 
constantly  decreasing  as  the  opportunities  for 
the  college  man  increase.  The  student  body  is 
increasingly  heterogeneous,  representing  every 
section  of  the  country,  a  great  variety  of  relig- 
ious beliefs,  political  affiliations  and  domestic 
conditions.  The  children  of  the  immigrants 
of  the  earlier  period  are  now  matriculated  in 
all  our  institutions.  All  these  changes  render 
it  absolutely  impossible  for  the  large  univer- 


The  Modern  Awakening  187 

sity  to  stand  sponsor  to  any  special  class,  sect 
or  party.  Consequently  the  college  has  created 
its  own  peculiar  environment,  with  community 
interests  quite  unlike  those  which  elsewhere 
exist.  And  thus  a  correct  estimate  of  the  re- 
ligious strength  of  the  colleges  of  the  land 
grows  more  difficult. 

There  is  another  change  w^hich  is  the  occasion 
of  encouragement.  Every  year  the  proportion 
of  students  who  are  Christians  when  entering 
college  rises.  The  modern  methods  of  cate- 
chetical instruction  in  the  leading  churches  are 
fruitful  in  reaching  the  prospective  member  of 
the  church  at  an  earlier  age.  And  this  work 
will  surely  claim  increasing  attention  from  the 
churches  in  the  future.  Another  change  closely 
connected  with  that  already  mentioned  and 
possibly  an  outgrowth  from  it  is  the  decadence 
of  the  revival.  Fifty  years  ago  it  was  exceed- 
ingly rare  for  a  college  class  to  graduate  with- 
out the  uplift  of  such  a  spiritual  awakening. 
[N'ow,  save  in  the  smaller  institutions,  the  revival 
is  very  unusual.  But  the  revival  is  disappear- 
ing from  the  Church  'in  much  the  same  way. 
Whether  it  shall  again  mark  the  religious  life 
in  college  and  Church  it  is  not  for  us  to  deter- 
mine. Neither  do  we  undertake  to  explain  the 
loss  of  power  in  this  form  of  religious  activity, 
once  so  efficacious.  But  we  record  the  fact  in 
passing  as  one  of  the  conspicuous  characteristics 


l88      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

of  the  problem  we  are  considering.  It  should 
be  noted,  however,  that  while  the  old-time 
revival  has  disappeared,  the  average  annual 
number  of  conversions  in  our  colleges  is  to  the 
total  enrolment  of  the  students  proportionally 
larger. 

There  is  a  peculiar  trick  of  the  memory  by 
which  we  forget  the  evils  of  the  past  while  the 
good  things  grow  more  conspicuous.  This  ap- 
plies all  the  way  from  mother's  cooking  to 
matters  of  Church  and  State.  The  reverse 
seems  to  obtain  in  regard  to  the  present,  and 
vices  are  more  easily  discerned  than  virtues. 
The  probability  is  that  the  long-range  view  is 
the  more  accurate.  But  this  chapter  deals  with 
the  present,  and  lest  some  may  be  unacquainted 
with  the  surprising  activity  in  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  spiritual  consecration,  we  shall 
mention  in  order  some  of  the  more  marked  re- 
ligious characteristics  of  this  period,  consider- 
ing them  in  contrast  with  the  Christian  efforts 
of  other  days. 

In  place  of  the  sporadic  attempts  at  organi- 
zation, already  noted  in  former  periods,  has 
arisen  the  college  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. There  are  various  religious  societies 
organized  for  special  purposes  to  be  found  here 
and  there  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  colleges. 
In  many  of  the  societies  one  department  of 
work  would  be  vigorously  and  effectively  cul- 


The  Modern  Awakening  189 

tivated,  while  others  would  be  neglected.  For 
example,  in  some  colleges  special  work  was 
done  in  systematic  Bible  study  while  the  mis- 
sionary cause  was  almost  forgotten.  Excellent 
results  were  often  obtained  by  the  restriction 
of  religious  activity  to  a  single  channel,  while 
much  of  the  field  of  spiritual  endeavor  was  al- 
most unwatered  and  untouched.  There  was  no 
intercollegiate  communication  respecting  relig- 
ious matters.  With  the  appearance  of  the 
Christian  Association  all  this  was  changed. 
This  whole  work  has  been  systematized  and  so 
carefully  organized  that  every  phase  of  the 
religious  life  receives  its  due  share  of  attention. 
Then,  too,  whatever  of  helpful  information  is 
derived  either  from  success  or  failure  through 
the  intercollegiate  movement  becomes  the  com- 
mon property  of  all.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  with 
its  complicated  organization,  not  only  greets 
the  incoming  student,  but  anticipates  his  com- 
ing by  correspondence,  and  it  follows  him 
through  college  life,  surrounding  him  with  a 
wholesome  atmosphere,  placing  before  him  a 
very  practical,  vital  and  real  spirituality,  not 
infrequently  exemplified  in  the  best  athletes 
and  the  first  scholars  of  the  college.  In  the 
larger  institutions.  Association  buildings  of 
commanding  appearance  give  evidence  of  the 
substantial  character  of  the  work  done,  form- 
ing a  center  for  the  undergraduate  religious 


igo      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

activity,  serving  the  twofold  purpose  of  con- 
centration and  distribution  of  spiritual  forces. 
We  recall  that  famous  haystack  meeting  at 
Williamstown,  out  of  which  the  magnificent 
missionary  organizations  and  successes  of  the 
past  century  sprung.  Without  detracting  a 
single  iota  of  praise  and  honor  from  Mills  and 
his  companions,  contrast  it  with  the  student 
missionary  demonstration  in  Toronto,  Canada, 
in  1902.  While  these  student  volunteers  fired 
their  enthusiasm  from  Mills'  torch  of  mission- 
ary zeal  and  the  flame  of  Brainerd's  self-sacri- 
fice, we  do  well  to  remember  that  the  individ- 
uals and  institutions  affected  have  increased  a 
thousandfold  in  a  century's  time.  These 
student  volunteer  gatherings  are  the  most 
marked  religious  phenomena  of  the  age.  And 
who  are  these  men  who  now  by  the  thousands 
are  ringing  out  their  challenges  to  the 
churches  that  they  stand  ready  to  give  life,  if 
the  churches  will  furnish  means  for  the  imme- 
diate evangelization  of  the  world  ?  They  are 
the  college  men  of  whom  some  speak  in  such 
derogatory  and  disparaging  terms.  If  so 
glorious  in  the  blade,  what  may  we  not  expect 
from  the  full  corn  in  the  ear  I  This  one  phase 
of  the  modern  religious  life  of  the  college  is 
sufficient  in  itself  to  prove  beyond  successful 
contradiction  that  the  Church  of  to-day  has 
not  lost  its  hold  on  the  men  of  intellect.     This 


The  Modern  Awakening  191 

movement  has  spread  from  this  country  to  the 
colleges  in  all  lands,  and  has  produced  a  broth- 
erhood of  Christian  college  men  which  girdles 
the  earth.  "  Its  watchword  :  'The  Evangel- 
ization of  the  world  in  this  generation,'  from 
being  the  misunderstood  cry  of  supposed  fa- 
natics, has  become  the  vivifying  word  which 
is  forcing  Christians  to  face  immediate  respon- 
sibility, instead  of  relegating  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world  to  future  generations  and 
an  age-long  process  of  gradual  civilization  and 
moral  improvement." 

In  no  sense  unimportant  is  the  systematic 
study  of  the  Bible.  In  the  early  years  of 
American  college  history  Bible  study  and  read- 
ing were  enforced  by  official  regulation,  at  a 
time  w^hen  theological  studies  formed  no  in- 
considerable part  of  the  college  curriculum. 
A  century  ago  the  removal  of  the  requirement 
of  Bible  study  and  the  rise  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  resulted  in  a  sad  negligence  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  colleges.  Through  the  Chris- 
tian Association  the  students  themselves  have 
organized  for  the  careful  study  of  God's  Word. 
Each  year  the  number  of  Bible  classes  in- 
creases and  the  interest  deepens.  Special 
classes  have  been  formed  for  the  study  of  mis- 
sions and  the  lives  of  noted  missionaries. 
This  has  also  been  adopted  as  an  elective  study 
in  most  colleges. 


192      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

In  no  way  can  we  better  indicate  the  mag- 
nitude of  this  superb  Christian  enterprise  than 
by  a  reference  to  the  report  of  the  work  for 
the  year  ending  December  31,  1903  : 

"  There  are  now  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  635  associations  among  students  (ex- 
clusive of  Colored  and  Indian  departments), 
of  which  sixty  were  organized  during  the  past 
year.  Of  these,  forty-eight  are  in  theological 
seminaries,  seventy-two  in  medical  and  other 
professional  schools,  and  the  remainder  in  uni- 
versities, colleges,  and  normal  and  preparatory 
schools.  The  membership  exceeds  40,000. 
The  total  number  of  young  men  in  institutions 
where  associations  exist  is  about  140,000. 

"  There  was  an  enrolment  of  16,042  men  in 
the  Student  Bible  classes  last  year,  an  increas- 
ing number  of  whom  are  doing  daily  personal 
Bible  study.  The  Bible  study  secretary  has 
been  in  correspondence  with  1,808  Bible 
class  leaders.  Over  1,400  students  were  en- 
rolled in  the  normal  classes  at  the  summer 
conferences  where  training  for  leadership  was 
given. 

"  Ninety -six  men  are  employed  for  the  whole 
or  a  part  of  their  time  as  general  secretaries 
of  student  associations  and  as  student  secre- 
taries of  city,  state  and  international  work. 
Building  movements  are  in  progress  at  McGill 
University,  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  Indiana 


The  Modern  Awakenlnsf  193 


'to 


University,  Iowa  State  College,  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin. 

"  Six  student  conferences  for  the  training  of 
leaders  of  the  various  departments  of  student 
association  work  were  held  at  JSTorthfield, 
Mass.,  Lake  Geneva,  Wis.,  Asheville,  N.  C, 
Pacific  Grove,  Cal.,  Gearhart,  Oregon,  and 
Lakeside,  Ohio.  The  last  two  were  held  for 
the  first  time  this  year.  A  total  of  1,714 
students  and  245  others  were  in  attendance. 

"  Spiritual  awakenings  among  students  in  all 
classes  of  institutions  and  in  all  parts  of  the 
continent  were  reported.  Between  3,000  and 
4,000  young  men  were  led  to  accept  Christ. 
This  was  accomplished  as  a  result  of  the  Bible 
classes,  organized  personal  work,  the  observ- 
ance of  the  week  and  day  of  prayer,  and 
special  series  of  meetings. 

"  Ten  student  secretaries  are  employed  by 
the  International  Committee,  of  whom  four 
are  engaged  in  general  administration  and  of- 
fice work  and  promotion  of  Bible  study,  while 
six  are  in  the  field,  three  visiting  universities 
and  colleges  in  Canada  and  the  East,  the  South 
and  the  West,  and  one  each  gives  special  at- 
tention to  preparatory  schools,  theological  sem- 
inaries and  institutions  for  colored  young  men. 
Ten  student  secretaries  are  employed  by  state 
committees. 

"  The  missionary  interests  of  students  are 


194      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

promoted  in  general  by  the  student  secretaries 
and  particularly  by  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  for  Foreign  Missions.  A  larger 
number  became  volunteers  in  1902-3  than  in 
any  preceding  year  since  1894:-5.  Mission 
study  was  engaged  in  by  6,774  students,  while 
$61,000  were  contributed  through  the  colleges 
for  missions."  ^ 

It  is  hardly  necessary  here  to  add  that  the 
work  of  the  college  association  is  in  nowise 
self-centered.  One  would  require  a  chapter  if 
not  a  volume  to  do  anything  like  justice  to  the 
varied  and  manifold  activities  of  Christian 
students.  Have  we  stopped  to  ask  why  the 
word  "  college  "  is  associated  with  that  noblest 
of  modern  agencies  for  the  betterment  of  the 
city  slums,  the  Settlement  ?  From  such  insti- 
tutions as  Harvard,  deputations  go  out  every 
night  in  the  week  to  conduct  evangelistic 
meetings  in  missions,  to  take  charge  of  boys' 
clubs,  to  arrange  meetings  for  the  discussion 
of  social  questions,  to  visit  the  sick,  the  miser- 
able and  the  outcast.  The  other  colleges  are 
doing  the  same  as  they  have  opportunity.  The 
college  to-day  is  making  a  very  decided  con- 
tribution to  the  moral  forces  for  the  uplifting 
of  humanity. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  still  too  much  intem- 

^  Report  of  The  International  Committee  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  for  1903. 


The  Modem  Awakening  195 

perance,  too  much  vice,  but  one  who  is  famil- 
iar with  the  history  of  our  colleges  is  at  a  loss 
to  name  another  period  so  free  from  these 
demoralizing  influences.  Unquestionably  the 
college  is  producing  a  more  perfect  physical 
manhood.  That  in  itself  means  the  elimina- 
tion of  many  temptations  and  not  a  few  vices. 
Some  of  our  ablest  scholars  affirm  that  the 
graduates  of  the  college  of  a  century  ago 
would  experience  no  little  difficulty  in  cred- 
itably passing  the  entrance  examinations  of 
our  best  colleges  to-day.  That  is  doubtless 
true.  It  would  be  indeed  singular  if  educators 
had  made  no  advance  in  a  hundred  years.  But 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  from  the 
facts  presented  from  this  investigation  the 
personal  advance  in  the  deepening  of  the 
moral  and  spiritual  life  is  fully  as  conspicuous 
as  that  in  the  physical  and  mental  realm.  We 
believe  that  there  has  been  a  positive  gain  in 
the  all-round  manhood  of  the  college  student 
in  the  past  two  centuries  which  is  very  marked 
in  the  past  hundred  years. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison  we  present  the 
latest  available  statistics  concerning  the  relig- 
ious life  in  our  colleges.  Each  year  the  com- 
piling of  the  facts  is  made  with  the  greatest 
care.  These  are  taken  by  various  persons  in 
different  ways.  The  Public  Relations  Com- 
mittee of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  has 


1 96      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

for  a  number  of  years  gathered  and  compiled 
these  facts.  In  the  early  part  of  December, 
1901,  the  committee  sent  letters  to  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  American  colleges  and 
i^iversities  asking  for  information  concerning 
the  religious  conditions  in  these  institutions 
containing  the  following  questions : 

(1)  What  progress  has  the  religious  work  in  your  insti- 
tution made  this  year,  and  along  what  lines  ? 

(2)  Total  enrolment  of  your  institution  ? 

(3)  Total  enrolment  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  ? 

(4)  Number  of  men  in  the  Senior  class  (Academic)  ? 

(5)  Number  of  professing  Christians  in  Senior  class 
(Academic)  ? 

(6)  How  many  of  these  are  expecting  to  enter  the  min- 
istry ? 

(7)  How  many  purjDose  going  into  the  foreign  field  ? 

Eeplies  were  received  from  sixty-eight  insti- 
tutions. Of  these  forty-eight  report  definite 
progress  in  some  form  or  other,  or  an  advance 
on  the  conditions  of  a  year  before.  And  spe- 
cial gains  were  made  in  personal  evangelistic 
work,  in  definite  outside  Christian  work,  in 
missionary  activity,  with  the  chief  advance  in 
Bible  study.  As  a  sample  of  the  work  done 
outside  the  college  we  quote  from  the  report 
of  Harvard : 

The  Association  manages  a  social  reading  room  on  T 
wharf,  patronized  daily  by  160  fishermen. 

Sends  fifteen  men  every  week  to  teach  English  at  a  Boston 
Chinese  Sunday-school. 


The  Modern  Awakening  197 

Sends  squads  of  three  or  four  men  on  Tuesday  evenings 
to  assist  at  the  Boston  Industrial  Home  and  the  Merrimac 
Street  Mission. 

Twelve  men,  members  of  entertainment  troupes,  visit 
almshouses,  hospitals,  etc. 

Over  thirty  men  are  working  in  connection  with  the  juve- 
nile library  which  the  Association  opened  in  East  Cambridge 
last  year.  (This  year's  work  includes  clubs  and  classes  in 
sloyd,  wood-carving,  military  drill,  sewing,  natural  history, 
chemistry,  physics,  American  history,  etc.,  and  is  under  the 
direction  of  a  salaried  superintendent. ) 

Seventeen  members  of  the  Association  are  teaching  at  the 
Prospect  and  Social  Unions,  and  twenty  at  the  Riverside  Al- 
liance. 

Members  are  assisting  at  the  following  places  :  South 
End  House,  Denison  House,  Elizabeth  Peabody  House, 
North  Bennett  Street,  St.  Stephen's  Church  of  the  Ascen- 
sion, East  End  Christian  Union. 

Over  twenty-five  men  are  teachers  in  neighboring  Sunday- 
schools. 

The  Statistics  from  these  colleges  indicate  a 
very  large  proportion  of  professing  Christians. 

The  proportion  of  Christians  to  the  number 
of  male  seniors  appears  as  follows  : 


1900 

1901 

Denomination        ^^^^^Q^s 

Per  cent. 

Colleges 

Per  cent. 

Reported 

Christians 

Reported 

Christians 

Undenominational      13 

63 

14 

86 

Congregational             14 

77 

12 

77 

Presbyterian                   3 

82 

7 

90 

Methodist                      7 

72 

10 

74 

Baptist                            5 

68 

6 

52 

Other  Denominations  5 

73 

7 

84 

State  Universities          5 

52 

8 

45 

198      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

In  1901  in  the  sixty-four  colleges  thus  report- 
ing upon  the  Christian  men  in  the  senior  class, 
there  were  2,265  seniors  in  all,  of  which 
1,675  were  professing  Christians,  or  seventy- 
four  per  cent.  In  1900,  in  the  fifty- two  col- 
leges thus  reporting,  there  were  1,763  male 
seniors ;  of  these,  1,151  were  Christians,  or 
sixty-five  per  cent.  The  statistics  of  1901 
show  a  gain  over  the  preceding  year  of  nine 
per  cent,  in  the  proportion  of  Christians 
among  the  male  seniors. 

In  1902  a  thorough  and  careful  census  taken 
in  three  hundred  and  fifty -six  colleges  and  uni- 
versities of  I^orth  America  showed  that  of 
the  eighty-three  thousand  young  men,  fifty- 
two  per  cent,  were  members  of  evangelical 
churches.  Since  the  gathering  of  these  sta- 
tistics there  have  been  extensive  spiritual 
awakenings  in  many  of  our  larger  institutions 
and  a  somewhat  general  revival  of  religious 
interest  in  the  smaller  colleges,  so  that  we  be- 
lieve that  we  are  amply  warranted  in  declar- 
ing the  present  percentage  of  evangelical 
Christians  as  at  least  fifty-three.  But  for  the 
sake  of  comparison  w^e  shall  consider  the  num- 
ber only  fift}^  per  cent,  which  is  deemed  by  all 
authorities  an  exceedingly  conservative  esti- 
mate. 

An  article  in  The  Sunday  School  Times  of 
April  5,   1902,  by  the  Eev.   James   H.  Eoss, 


The  Modem  Awakening  199 

presents  definite  statements  respecting  the  re- 
ligious condition  in  many  colleges.     For  the 
purposes   of    comparison,    we   cite   from  this 
article   the    facts  and  figures  respecting   the 
religious  life  in  those  colleges  which  we  have 
been  considering  in  the  course  of  this  study : 
''The   proportion   of   church-members   to  the 
total   number   of   students   in   the  university 
[Yale]  last  year  was  fifty-nine  per  cent.     Yale 
has  the  largest,  most  effective,  and  best  organ- 
ized Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  the 
world,  and  a  Christian  congregation  of  men, 
meeting  daily,  without  parallel  in  the  world. 
...     In    Williams    College,    there    are    a 
hundred     and    ninety-five    professing    Chris- 
tians   among    three    hundred    and    fifty-five 
students.      .      .     .      About  two-thirds  of   the 
students    in    Amherst    college   are  members 
of   churches.     .      .      .      The  majority  of  stu- 
dents  in  Middlebury  are  members  of  Chris- 
tian churches.     In   Harvard   and  Dartmouth 
the    ratio    is    not    given    but    the    religious 
condition     is     most    encouraging.      Between 
seventy-five  and  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
students  of  Oberlin  are  professing  Christians. 
In     Marietta     seventy-seven     per    cent,    are 
registered    as    Christians;   at   Carleton  fifty- 
seven   per   cent,   and   more   than   ninety   per 
cent,  of   its  graduates  are  Christians   before 
leaving    college.     Ninety    per    cent,    of    the 


200      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

students  of  Druiy  are  professing  Christians; 
the  proportion  of  church-members  in  Colorado 
College  is  a  little  less  than  seventy  per  cent. 
The  number  of  professing  Christians  at  Whit- 
man is  about  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  total 
enrolment.  These  references  are  from  col- 
leges representing  the  conservative  civiliza- 
tion of  the  far  West  and  from  institutions 
founded  and  specially  fostered  by  the  Congre- 
gational denomination.  Evidences  are  at  hand 
to  show  that  colleges  of  the  other  denomina- 
tions will  not  fall  behind  this  high  average. 
In  the  state  institutions  the  proportion  is 
somewhat  smaller,  and  in  some  of  the  scientific 
schools  the  ratio  is  considerably  less.  Yet, 
making  due  allowance  for  inaccuracies  and 
overestimates,  we  believe  that  there  is  no 
question  but  that  the  proportion  of  Christians 
of  the  evangelical  type  is  somewhat  more  than 
half  of  the  total  enrolment."  Mr.  Eoss  closes 
his  article  in  these  words  :  "  Inasmuch  as  the 
investigation  was  so  thorough  and  the  reports 
are  so  optimistic,  even  when  comparing  col- 
leges and  churches,  the  inference  is  inevitable 
that  a  college  is  a  safe  place  for  the  average 
student  of  either  sex,  and  that  vast  progress 
has  been  made  in  the  state  of  things  that 
existed  in  American  colleges  one  hundred 
years  ago,  when  unbelief  and  vice  were  com- 


The  Modern  Awakening  201 

In  conclusion  we  would  call  attention  to  the 
interesting  and  significant  fact  that  there  has 
been  a  decided  enlargement  of  the  positive 
Christian  forces  of  American  higher  education. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  some  of  the  great 
denominations  which  half  a  century  ago 
exerted  but  a  comparatively  small  educa- 
tional influence,  are  now  in  the  vanguard  of 
the  movement.  A  conspicuous  illustration  of 
this  is  found  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  de- 
nomination which  now  outranks  all  other 
denominations  in  the  Western  States  when 
number  of  students,  number  of  instructors, 
number  of  institutions  and  material  endow- 
ment are  considered.  And  in  the  schools  of  the 
Methodists  and  the  Baptists  the  percentage  of 
Christians  is  unusually  high.  These  are  some 
of  the  formative  forces  which  furnish  a  reason- 
able basis  for  optimism. 


THE  PEESENT  OUTLOOK 


"More  decisions  looking  to  the  missionary  service  are 
made  in  college  than  in  all  previous  stages  of  training.  The 
college  is  more  potent  than  the  home  in  the  incentives  to 
a  devoted  life.  Hence  our  colleges  are  the  recruiting  ground 
for  all  agencies  which  do  their  work  at  the  heart  of  hu- 
manity. The  unfailing  appeal  meets  there  the  unfailing 
response.  .  .  .  Deeper  than  the  currents  of  the  physical 
life  which  runs  at  times  so  swiftly  are  the  currents  of  the 
spiritual  life.  .  .  .  Few  men,  during  their  college 
course,  are  out  of  reach  of  high  incentives,  and  some  man  is 
always  yielding  to  them.  Sentiment,  in  the  form  of  some 
clear,  distinct  and  noble  ambition,  is  never  absent  from 
college  life. ' ' — Fres.  W.  J.  Tucker^  The  College  Graduate  and 
the  Church. 

"A  college  boy  is  not,  as  many  suppose,  a  peculiarly 
misguided  and  essentially  light-minded  person.  He  is,  on 
the  contrary,  set  in  conditions  which  tempt  to  excellence 
and  is  peculiarly  responsive  to  every  sincere  appeal  to  the 
higher  life.  Behind  the  mask  of  light-mindedness  or  self- 
assertion  which  he  assumes,  his  interior  life  is  wrestling 
with  fundamental  problems,  as  Jacob  wrestled  with  the 
angel  and  would  not  let  him  go  until  he  blessed  him. 
.  .  .  If,  however,  the  voluntary  system  of  religion  ap- 
plied to  university  life  has  proved  anything  in  these  fifteen 
years  it  has  proved  the  essentially  religious  nature  of  the 
normal  educated  young  man  of  America. ' ' — Prof.  Francis  G. 
Feabody,  The  Religion  of  a  College  Student. 

A  few  months  before  his  death  Mr.  Moody  said  :  ''From 
a  religious  point  of  view  I  look  upon  the  colleges  as  the  most 
hopeful  field  in  all  the  world. ' ' 

So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 

So  near  is  God  to  man. 
When  Duty  whispers  low,  "  Thou  must,^* 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 

It  is  worth  while  in  conclusion  very  briefly 
to  indicate  the  type  of  Christian  character 
which  the  college  of  to-day  is  producing.  For 
this  purpose  we  shall  summon  experts.  Rob- 
ert E.  Speer  thus  defines  it :  "  Each  genera- 
tion of  men  restates  the  Christian  ideals.  The 
qualities  of  character  which  were  emphasized 
by  our  fathers  are  viewed  perhaps  in  a  differ- 
ent proportion  by  us.  Honesty,  truthfulness, 
integrity  abide  the  same,  but  the  metaphors 
under  which  the  Christian  life  is  set  forth 
change,  and  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
typical  Christian  man  of  our  day  are  unlike 
those  of  the  typical  Christian  man  of  another 
day.  Especially  is  this  true  among  students. 
In  the  last  twenty  years  a  new  type  of  college 
Christian  man  has  developed,  like  his  prede- 
cessor in  sincerity,  straightforwardness,  and 
honor,  but  fonder  of  Paul's  military  meta- 
phors, less  introspective,  more  joyful  and 
merry  even,  and  with  a  stronger  sense  of  the 
call  to  a  life  of  full  Christian  service,  because 
perhaps  more  aware  of  the  opportunities,  while 
scarcely  more  awed  by  the  responsibilities."  * 

1  Speer,  A  Memorial  of  a  True  Life,  p.  11. 
205 


2o6      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

John  R.  Mott  says :  *'  The  colleges  and  uni- 
versities constitute,  without  doubt,  the  most 
religious  communities  in  our  country.  Taking 
the  young  men  of  America  as  a  whole,  not 
more  than  one  in  twelve  are  members  of  evan- 
gelical churches.  Some  have  placed  the  pro- 
portion as  low  as  one  in  twenty.  Among 
students,  however,  nearly  one-half  of  the 
young  men  are  members  of  evangelical 
churches.  Among  professors  and  instructors 
the  percentage  of  evangelical  Christians  is  far 
larger  even  than  it  is  among  the  students. 
This  is  true  in  state  and  other  undenomina- 
tional colleges,  as  well  as  in  denominational 
institutions.  .  .  .  Generally  speaking,  it 
may  be  asserted  that  the  type  of  religious  life 
of  American  students  is  not  traditional.  They 
do  not  hold  their  present  beliefs  simply  be- 
cause they  inherited  them.  At  the  same  time, 
they  do  attach  great  weight  to  the  traditional 
facts  and  statements  of  the  Christian  faith. 
They  are  as  a  class  loyal  to  the  great  verities 
of  evangelical  Christianity.  Their  religious 
belief  is  based  upon  a  personal  study  of  the 
Christian  Scriptures  and  evidences.  And  not 
the  least  helpful  in  establishing  their  faith  has 
been  the  influence  of  the  presentation  and 
study  of  the  facts  of  Christian  missions. 

"Their  religious  life,  therefore,  may  be 
characterized  as  intellectual  and  spiritual.     It 


The  Present  Outlook  207 

is  practical  as  well.  The  typical  American 
Christian  student  despises  cant  and  hypocrisy, 
and  desires,  above  all  else,  reality  in  his  Chris- 
tian experience.  He  is  not  satisfied  to  limit  the 
Bible  to  the  realm  of  thought  and  discussion ; 
he  seeks  to  bring  it  to  bear  upon  his  life, — to 
help  him  in  his  battle  with  temptation,  to  en- 
able him  to  develop  strong  faith  and  a  sym- 
metrical character.  Moreover  he  is  not  con- 
tent to  keep  his  religion  to  himself.  He  recog- 
nizes the  force  of  Archbishop  Whately's  words : 
*  If  our  religion  is  not  true,  we  ought  to  change 
it ;  if  it  be  true,  we  are  bound  to  propagate 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  truth.'  Therefore 
he  unites  with  his  Christian  fellow  students  in 
an  organized  movement  to  make  Christ  known 
in  his  college,  in  his  native  land,  and  through- 
out the  world."  ^ 

President  Koosevelt  at  the  installation  of 
Dr.  Butler  as  President  of  Columbia,  April 
21,  1902,  thus  addressed  the  students :  '*  I  do 
not  want  to  speak  so  much  about  the  scholastic 
side  of  university  life  as  that  side  which  pro- 
duces service  to  the  nation.  ISTot  one  man  in 
a  hundred  is  fit  to  be  in  the  highest  sense  a 
productive  scholar,  but  the  other  ninety-nine 
can  do  decent  work  if  they  take  the  pains.  If 
we  think  we  can  do  work  well  without  taking 
pains,  our  work  amounts  to  very  little.     Intel- 

1  The  Sunday  ScJiool  Times,  Jan.  19,  1901. 


2o8      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

lect  must  stand  below  character  in  value  to  a 
man.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  sound 
body ;  it  is  a  better  thing  to  have  a  sane 
mind  ;  but  it  is  still  better  to  have  that  group 
of  decent  and  virile  qualities  which  we  sum  up 
as  character.  If  a  man  is  strong  in  mind  and 
body,  but  misuses  that  strength,  he  becomes  a 
foe  to  the  body  politic,  and  should  be  hunted 
down  by  all  decent  men.  If  he  is  a  nice  man, 
but  does  n't  count,  you  can't  do  much  with 
him.  In  the  battle  of  life,  as  in  the  civil  war, 
the  soldier  whose  tendency  is  to  run  away 
finds  his  usefulness  impaired.  In  the  strife 
for  civic  betterment  there  is  small  use  for  the 
man  who  means  well,  but  means  w^ell  feebly. 
A  man  must  be  honest  and  courageous.  The 
timid  good  man  availeth  little.  He  must  have 
common  sense ;  without  that  he  will  find  him- 
self at  the  mercy  of  those  who,  without  his  de- 
sire to  do  right,  know  only  too  well  how  to 
make  the  wrong  effective." 

Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody  of  Harvard 
University  thus  defines  and  interprets  the 
religious  life  of  the  college  student  of  to-day : 
*'  The  religion  of  a  college  student  is  marked, 
first  of  all,  by  a  passion  for  reality.  .  .  . 
The  modern  college  student,  while  in  many 
respects  very  immature,  is  extraordinarily 
alert  in  his  discernment  of  anything  which 
seems  to  him  of  the  nature  of  indirectness  or 


The  Present  Outlook  209 

unreality.  The  first  demand  he  makes  of  his 
companions  or  of  his  teachers  is  the  demand 
for  sincerity,  straightforwardness  and  sim- 
plicity." The  second  characteristic  named  by 
Dr.  Peabody  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
modern  student  is  the  demand  for  reasonable- 
ness in  religion :  "  To  reach  the  heart  of  an 
educated  young  man  the  message  of  the  church 
must  be  unequivocal,  uncomplicated,  genuine, 
masculine,  direct,  real.  .  .  .  There  is  go- 
ing on,  within  the  college,  a  restoration  of 
religious  faith  through  the  influence  of  intel- 
lectual liberty.  I  have  seen  more  than  one 
student  come  to  college  in  a  mood  of  complete 
antagonism  to  his  earlier  faith,  and  then  I 
have  seen  that  same  youth  in  four  years 
graduate  from  college,  and  with  a  passionate 
consecration  give  himself  to  the  calling  of  the 
Christian  ministry  which  he  had  so  lately 
thought  superfluous  and  outgrown.  It  was 
the  simple  consequence  of  his  discovery  that 
the  religious  life  is  not  in  conflict  with  the 
interests  and  aims  of  a  university,  but  is 
precisely  that  ideal  of  conduct  and  service  to- 
ward which  the  spirit  of  a  university  logically 
leads." 

The  third  characteristic  of  religious  life  in 
college  is  the  expression  of  spirituality  through 
practical  service:  "The  normal  type  of  a 
serious-minded  young  man  at  the  present  time 


2 1  o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

does  not  talk  much  about  his  religion.  Some- 
times this  reserve  proceeds  from  self-con- 
sciousness and  ought  to  be  overcome,  but 
quite  as  often  it  proceeds  from  modesty  and 
ought  to  be  reverenced.  At  any  rate  such  is 
the  college  student — a  person  disinclined  to 
much  profession  of  piety,  and  not  easy  to 
shape  into  the  earlier  type  of  expressed 
discipleship.  Yet,  at  the  same  time  this 
young  man  is  extraordinarily  responsive  to 
the  new  call  for  human  service.  I  suppose 
that  never  in  the  history  of  education  were  so 
many  young  men  and  young  women  in  our 
colleges  profoundly  stirred  b}^  a  sense  of  social 
responsibility  and  a  passion  for  social  justice." 
And  he  concludes :  "  These  are  the  tests  to 
which  the  Church  must  submit,  if  it  would 
meet  the  religion  of  a  college  student — the 
tests  of  reality,  reasonableness  and  practical 
service.  A  religion  without  reality — formal, 
external,  technical,  obscurantist ;  a  religion 
without  reasonableness — omniscient,  dogmatic, 
timid;  a  religion  which  does  not  greet  the 
spirit  of  practical  service  as  the  spirit  of 
Christ — a  religion  of  such  a  kind  may  win 
the  loyalty  of  emotional  or  theological  or 
ecclesiastical  minds,  but  it  is  not  acceptable 
to  the  normal  type  of  educated  American 
youth.  Such  natures  demand  first  a  genuine, 
then  a  rational,  and  then  a  practical  religion, 


The  Present  Outlook  211 

and  they  are  held  to  the  Christian  Church  by 
no  bond  of  sentiment  or  tradition  which  will 
prevent,  their  seeking  a  more  religious  life 
elsewhere.  And  what  is  this  but  a  wholesome 
challenge  to  the  Church  of  Christ  to  renew  its 
vitality  at  the  sources  of  its  real  power? 
The  intellectual  issues  of  the  present  time  are 
too  real  to  be  met  by  artificiality  and  too 
rational  to  be  interpreted  by  traditionalism  ; 
the  practical  philanthropy  of  the  present 
time  is  too  absorbing  and  persuasive  to  be 
subordinated  or  ignored.  It  is  a  time  for  the 
church  to  dismiss  all  affectations  and  all 
assumptions  of  authority,  and  to  give  itself  to 
the  reality  of  rational  religion  and  to  the 
practical  redemption  of  an  unsanctified  world. 
This  return  to  simplicity  and  service  will  be 
at  the  same  time  a  recognition  of  the  religion 
of  a  college  student  and  a  renewal  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ."^ 

In  a  recent  address  before  the  American 
Missionary  Association,  Kev.  D  wight  L.  Ilillis, 
D.  D.,  said  :  "  If  twenty  years  ago  it  seemed 
as  if  the  tides  of  faith  were  ebbing  away  to 
leave  the  church  stranded  on  the  beach,  now 
the  tides  are  returning  in  a  flood  whose  volume 
and  depth  man's  plummet  may  not  sound. 
Gone  the  era  of  criticism  and  destruction. 
Gone  the  era  of  analysis  that  pulled  in  pieces 

*  The  Message  of  the  College  to  the  Church,  Chapter  I. 


2 1 2      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

old  poems,  old  histories,  old  creeds.  Men  see 
that  the  obligations  of  conscience  and  duty, 
and  man's  relation  to  Christ  and  God  remain 
unaltered.  Moreover,  men  now  feel  that  the 
era  of  criticism  was  an  era  of  mediocrity  and 
second-rate  intellect.  There  is  a  new  spirit  in 
letters,  in  arts  and  philosophy  and  religion. 
The  pendulum  that  moved  far  toward  doubt  is 
now  swinging  back  toward  faith.  There  is  a 
growing  interest  in  the  permanent  elements 
and  great  simplicities  of  Christianity.  And 
with  the  new  faith  has  come  a  new  en- 
thusiasm." ^ 

Eev.  Dr.  John  Henry  Barrows  said :  "  It  is 
vastly  significant,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
genius  of  Christianity  that  the  religion  of 
Christ  has  in  this  century  of  intellectual  prog- 
ress, when  superstitions  have  been  dispelled  by 
the  light  of  truth,  made  more  rapid  and 
memorable  conquests  than  in  any  previous 
period  since  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
paganism. 

*' '  We  live  in  deeds,  not  years  ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths  ; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.    He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most — feels  the  noblest — acts  the  best.'  " 

In  many  respects  there   is  no  one  in   the 

'Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.  D.,  sermon  before  the 
American  Missionary  Association,  1903. 


The  Present  Outlook  213 

country  better  qualified  to  pass  judgment 
upon  the  spirituality  of  the  college  man  than 
President  Harper  of  Chicago.  After  a  careful 
diagnosis  of  the  conditions  he  discovers  oc- 
casion both  for  alarm  and  encouragement. 
His  conclusions  are  formulated  in  the  answer 
to  the  question,  "Is  Infidelity  Increasing  in 
the  Colleges  ?  "  After  facing  with  candor  and 
courage  certain  facts  respecting  spiritual  indif- 
ference and  the  loss  of  faith  in  college  he  con- 
cludes with  this  significant  utterance : 

"  If  we  mean  to  define  infidelity  as  a  general 
distrust  of  the  existence  of  a  divine  Being,  a 
downright  denial  of  immortality  and  the  truth 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  refusal  to  bring  one's 
life  under  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  I  maintain 
that  infidelity,  so  far  from  increasing,  is 
rapidly  decreasing.  A  comparison  of  the  re- 
ligious condition  of  the  older  colleges  to-day 
with  that  of  the  same  institutions  of  fifty 
years  ago  will  show  indubitably  that  there  is 
in  them  to-day  far  more  sturdy  belief  in  the 
fundamentals  of  the  Christian  faith.  Further 
than  this  there  is  to  be  found  to-day  religious 
interest  in  our  colleges  which  is  absolutely 
unparalleled.  It  is  not  only  that  the  Toung 
Men's  Christian  Associations  and  the  Young 
Women's  Associations  are  more  prosperous  and 
more  influential  than  ever  before,  but  the  col- 
leges themselves  are  awakening  to  their  re- 


214      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

sponsibilities  to  care  for  the  religious  life  of 
their  students.  Everywhere  we  see  the  estab- 
lishment of  chairs  for  Biblical  instruction ;  the 
institution  of  preacherships  especially  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  college  mind ;  the  outgo- 
ing of  the  earnest  life  of  the  students  in  col- 
lege settlements ;  great  conventions  of  college 
men  and  women  under  the  direction  of  relig- 
ious leaders.  The  college  student  who  grows 
up  among  these  influences  is  already  making 
himself  felt.  From  all  quarters  come  reports 
of  the  awakening  of  religious  earnestness  be- 
cause of  the  energy  and  broad  vision  of  edu- 
cators and  students.  The  Religious  Education 
Association  which  has  just  begun  its  work 
under  auspicious  circumstances  would  have 
been  impossible  ten  years  ago.  It  is  unques- 
tionable that  the  life  of  students  to-day  is  more 
natural,  more  wholesome,  more  pure  than  in 
any  previous  period  of  education.  This  fact 
speaks  volumes. 

"  Infidelity,  let  us  thank  God,  so  far  from 
increasing  in  the  colleges  is  being  conquered 
there.  Christian  faith  in  some  particulars  is 
passing  through  a  transitional  period,  but  it  is 
not  being  destroyed.  .  .  .  Let  us  not  croak 
about  the  amount  of  infidelity  now  in  our  col- 
leges. We  may  well  be  surprised  that  it  is  not 
even  greater  in  amount  than  it  is,  when  we 
take    into    account  the    wretched   conditions 


The  Present  Outlook  215 

which  exist  as  to  the  religious  education  of 
boys  and  girls  who  have  reached  the  college 
age.  We  ourselves,  as  parents  and  church 
members,  are  largely  responsible  for  such  infi- 
delity as  does  exist  in  colleges,  since,  in  most 
cases,  we  have  failed  to  take  even  the  most 
simple  measures  to  prevent  it.  The  college 
can  hardly  be  expected  to  repair  the  mistakes 
of  the  home,  or  the  teacher  to  overcome  the 
indifference  of  irreligion  of  the  parent."  ^ 

In  a  most  discriminating  article  on  "  Kelig- 
ion  and  the  College  Man,"  President  Mcholas 
Murray  Butler  of  Columbia  College  makes  the 
following  statement : 

"  Parents  generally  are  coming  to  see  that 
when  a  boy  leaves  home,  as  he  must,  there  is 
on  the  whole  no  place  where  he  is  so  safe  as  in 
college,  and  that  if  a  thousand  young  men  be 
selected  at  random  from  the  college,  and  com- 
pared with  a  thousand  young  men  of  corre- 
sponding ages,  selected  at  random  from  those 
not  in  college,  the  conditions  of  the  college 
men,  the  two  groups  being  taken  as  wholes, 
will  be  found  to  be  immensely  more  favorable 
to  the  best  results  than  those  of  the  other 
class.  If  these  impressions  as  to  the  influence 
of  college  life  rest  upon  facts  it  cannot  be  true 
that  the  college  man,  as  such,  is  peculiarly  in- 
accessible to  the  appeals  of  personal  religion. 

1  Christendom,  April  18,  1903. 


2i6      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

If  the  very  contradictory  is  not  true,  the  great 
movement  of  sympathy  and  money  and  stu- 
dents to  the  colleges  is  a  subject  for  the  gravest 
apprehension,  a  thing  to  be  regarded  as  noth- 
ing short  of  a  fatal  tendency. 

*'  What  are  the  facts  ?  So  far  as  the  envi- 
ronment of  the  college  man  is  concerned,  intel- 
ligent judgment  declares  that  at  no  time  here- 
tofore has  college  life  been  so  clean  and  so  hos- 
pitable to  high  moral  and  social  ideals  as  at 
this  moment.  There  is,  certainly,  drinking  and 
gambling  and  gross  immorality  among  college 
men  in  college.  There  is  indifference  in  some, 
though  exceedingly  little  direct  hostility  to  the 
appeals  of  religion.  But  these  are  found  wher- 
ever young  men  are  found.  They  are  no  more 
to  be  charged  to  college  life  as  such,  than  they 
are  to  professional  or  commercial  life.  But  the 
point  is  this :  these  things  do  not  '  characterize ' 
the  life  of  American  students.  The  current 
sets  directly  against  them.  High  intellectual, 
social,  and  spiritual  ideals  press  upon  the  stu- 
dent's attention.  They  do  not  express  them- 
selves always  in  the  conventional  ways  familiar 
a  generation  ago.  Probably  fewer  men  than 
formerly  regard  ^  speaking  in  meeting '  as  the 
ultimate  or  even  as  an  important  manifestation 
of  the  religious  life.  The  little  group  of  pious 
men  is  not  so  distinct  a  feature  of  college  life  as 
formerly,  nor  on  the  other  hand  are  the  pro- 


The  Present  Outlook  217 

fane,  obscene,  and  lawless.  There  has  been  a 
leveling  up.  The  tone  of  life  in  college  is 
comparatively  high  and  generous,  and  its  em- 
phasis is  on  the  things  that  are  true  and  honest 
and  of  good  report.  The  helps  to  distinctively 
religious  life  are  abundant  and  well  organized. 
The  student  Christian  Associations  exercise  a 
powerful  influence  in  college  and  intercollegiate 
activities.  Their  members  are  almost  uniformly 
among  the  leaders  in  the  social,  athletic,  and 
scholastic  life  of  the  schools.  And  in  their 
religious  talk  and  living  there  is  a  refreshing 
and  convincing  note  of  manliness  and  whole- 
heartedness."^ 

Professor  J.  Henry  Thayer  of  Harvard,  the 
eminent  scholar  and  Christian,  when  inter- 
viewed in  1901  concerning  the  changed  attitude 
of  academic  circles  tow^ard  religion  to-day,  as 
contrasted  with  what  he  saw  at  Harvard  nearly 
half  a  century  before  as  an  undergraduate  de- 
clared himself  "altogether  optimistic."  "As 
an  undergraduate  if  he  sought  to  be  religious 
he  had  to  do  it  in  out-of-the-way  corners  or  by 
ways  that  were  covert.  ]^ow  the  religious  life 
of  the  undergraduates  is  open :  and  as  for  the 
attitude  of  the  teachers  of  philosophy  and 
science  in  the  university,  it  is  idealistic  in  the 
one  case  and  theistic  in  its  implication  in  the 
other." 

^  Christendom,  May  16,  1903. 


2l8      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

President  Hall  thus  states  his  convictions 
concerning  personal  religion  in  university  life : 
"  If  one  will  approach  in  a  temperate  and  can- 
did spirit  the  problem  of  personal  religion  in 
university  life,  it  is  the  writer's  belief  (a  belief 
resting  upon  a  somewhat  wide  experience)  that 
the  average  degree  of  interest  in  personal  re- 
ligion will  be  found  to  be  higher  among  col- 
lege students  than  in  any  other  group  or 
community  of  young  men.  .  .  .  There  is 
nothing  more  full  of  pathos,  nothing  more  rich 
in  promise,  than  that  under-life  of  yearning, 
struggle  and  aspiration  which  is  going  on  in 
tens  of  thousands  of  young  undergraduates. 
Complex  are  its  causes,  many  are  its  modes  and 
currents  of  development.  For  many  men  it  is 
the  fierce  struggle  of  the  natural  man  against 
the  restraints  and  the  reproof  of  a  higher 
knowledge ;  it  is  the  flesh  lusting  against  the 
spirit.  For  many  it  is  a  painful  process  of  re- 
adjustment from  narrowing  influences  that 
warped  the  powers  of  boyhood  to  larger  meas- 
ures of  living  and  thinking  encountered  in  the 
manly  liberty  of  the  university.  For  many  it 
is  the  disturbing  vision  of  responsibility,  dimly 
apprehended  by  growing  intellectual  and  moral 
powers.  For  many  it  is  a  vague  hunger  for 
God,  for  the  living  God ;  a  hunger  stimulated 
but  not  appeased  by  the  new  philosophical 
atmosphere.     For  many  it  is  the  trembling  ear- 


The  Present  Outlook  219 

nestness  of  untested  discipleship  ;  Clirist  seen, 
adored,  approached  with  the  fresh  enthusiasm 
of  inexperience.  .  .  .  The  normal  influence 
of  college  life  is  not  demoralizing.  It  is  en- 
nobling. It  is  the  most  glorious  opportunity 
that  can  be  given  to  youth.  It  is  filled  with 
sublime  possibilities.  Much  of  the  sublimity 
resides  in  its  freedom,  in  its  moral  tests,  in  its 
demand  upon  the  will.  If  it  can  be  said  that 
some  men  lose  in  college  the  religious  impulse 
imparted  in  childhood's  home,  it  may  also  be 
said  that  many  men  find  in  college  a  concep- 
tion of  God,  of  life,  of  personal  obligation  all 
the  more  controlling  because  acquired  under 
conditions  of  moral  liberty  that  tested  the  soul 
as  with  a  refiner's  fire."  ^ 

Such  citations  might  be  continued  almost  in- 
definitely. The  position  and  character  of  the 
men  quoted  insure  great  weight  to  their 
opinions.  It  must  not  be  assumed  that  there 
are  no  discouragements  and  perils,  for  there 
are  many,  but  we  are  seeking  definite  informa- 
tion from  which  we  may  determine  the  trend 
of  religious  life  at  the  present  hour.  And  we 
affirm  from  the  facts  in  hand  that  there  is  much 
reason  for  optimism.  Surely  conditions  are  in 
nowise  such  as  they  have  been  in  the  past. 
Keligion  has  become  less  theoretical  and  far 

*  Personal  Religion  in  University  Life,  Pres.  Charles  Cuth- 
bert  Hall,  D.  D.,  The  Congregatmicdist,  Aug.  9,  1900. 


220      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

more  practical.  And  while  fewer  men  pro- 
portionally are  seeking  the  ministry,  vastly 
larger  numbers  are  seeking  vocations  where 
means  and  influence  shall  count  for  the  most 
in  the  uplifting  of  humanity.  Genuineness  is 
a  watchword  and  sincerity  the  demand  of  the 
best  of  college  men.  Shams  and  hypocrisy 
were  never  more  despised.  These  commend- 
able characteristics  of  modern  college  life  un- 
doubtedly tend  to  the  repression  of  religious 
enthusiasm  and  the  suppression  of  spiritual 
profession  and  testimony.  The  tendency,  how- 
ever, is  on  the  whole  most  wholesome  and  en- 
couraging. 

It  is  conceded  that  there  is  considerable  loss 
in  respect  and  reverence  for  things  holy  and 
divine.  The  Sabbath  in  college,  as  outside, 
has  lost  much  of  its  former  prestige  and  sanc- 
tity. There  is  an  increasing  amount  of  study 
on  the  part  of  the  students  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
and  the  reiterated  charge  that  the  allotment 
of  lessons  in  the  latter  part  of  the  week,  in 
some  schools  and  with  some  instructors,  sug- 
gests and  gives  authority  for  such  misuse  of 
the  day.  With  the  reconstruction  of  theology 
has  come  to  many  the  dispersion  of  eschato- 
logical  fears,  and  from  higher  criticism  the 
lessened  authority  of  the  Word  of  God.  To 
those  students  who  have  but  a  smattering  of 
knowledge   of   these   things   injury  has  been 


The  Present  Outlook  221 

wrought.  To  some  of  the  most  intellectual  and 
conscientious  there  has  come,  however,  a  new 
revelation  of  the  sanctity  of  divine  law,  with  a 
new  sense  of  the  heinousness  of  sin  and  the 
glory  of  righteousness ;  while  the  Word  of  God 
has  emerged  from  the  crucible  of  analysis  like 
burnished  gold.  The  grosser  sins  are  becom- 
ing increasingly  unpopular  though  there  is  still 
too  much  of  licentiousness  and  intemperance. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  is  the  place  and 
when  the  "  good  old  time  "  which  could  show 
such  a  magnificent  army  of  educated  Christian 
young  men  as  to-day  ?  The  Student  Yolun- 
teer  Movement  in  itself  is  a  fact  which  every 
pessimist  must  face  and  explain  before  he 
convinces  the  intelligent  man  that  there  is 
a  spiritual  decadence  in  college  life  to-day. 
Never  in  the  history  of  America  was  there 
such  a  large  and  superb  body  of  young  men 
of  college  education  eagerly  pressing  into 
the  hardest  places  of  service  for  Christ  and 
the  Church.  And  this  arm}^  of  young  people 
is  so  far  in  advance  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
churches  that  they  are  ringing  out  the  chal- 
lenge that  they  are  ready  to  put  their  lives 
against  the  means  of  the  churches  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation. 
Some  of  the  churches  which  have  been  looking^ 
for  their  student  adherents  in  the  rear  of  the 
procession  advancing  to  right  the  wrong  and 


222      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

to  save  the  world,  are  just  discovering  that 
they  are  in  the  van  and  not  at  the  rear — are 
the  color-bearers  and  not  the  camp-followers. 
Even  among  those  who  are  not  so  conspicu- 
ous among  the  leaders  of  religious  life  and 
thought  the  colleges  are  furnishing  the  cham- 
pions of  civic  righteousness  and  whenever  the 
student  enters  politics  there  is,  with  rare  ex- 
ceptions, an  influence  in  favor  of  justice,  honor 
and  righteousness. 

With  the  renaissance  of  child  training  in  the 
home  and  in  the  Church,  strengthened  by  fresh 
discoveries  and  the  clearer  apprehension  of  the 
character  of  the  work,  its  import  and  influence, 
the  whole  endeavor  of  the  Church  will  receive 
new  impulse  and  inspiration.  The  inception 
of  the  forward  movement  in  religious  educa- 
tion so  full  of  promise ;  the  quick  and  intelli- 
gent responsiveness  to  the  spiritual  appeal,  of 
which  special  workers  in  the  colleges  now 
speak  so  enthusiastically ;  these  and  many 
other  indications  point  unerringly  to  a  day  of 
higher  and  nobler  achievement.  Christianity 
is  neither  dead  nor  moribund  in  the  colleges, 
but  keen,  alert,  practical,  vital  and  exceedingly 
vigorous.  Its  appeal  is  most  rational  and  per- 
suasive and  the  men  going  out  from  the  col- 
leges of  to-day  far  outnumber  in  percentage 
of  Christians  the  graduates  of  other  days, 
and  on  comparison  we  sincerely  believe  that 


The  Present  Outlook  223 

they  have  never  been  outranked  in  quality. 
The  increasing  ratio  of  out-and-out  Christians 
among  those  who  receive  their  diplomas  is 
optimistically  signijBcant  in  itself  alone,  even 
if  there  be  little  gain  in  the  quality.  But  the 
indications  point  to  steady  improvement  in 
both  quantity  and  quality  of  the  spiritual  life 
in  the  American  colleges. 


THE  COLLEGE  MAN'S  INFLUElSrCE 


"But  whatever  may  have  been  in  the  past,  or  now  are, 
the  shortcomings  and  limitations  of  American  colleges,  they 
represent  the  mainspring  of  opportunity  and  preparation  to 
the  large  majority  of  those  who  guide  the  destinies,  domi- 
nate the  affairs,  and  lead  in  the  intellectual  and  artistic 
progress  of  our  Nation." — John  W.  Leonard^  Editor  of 
**  Who  's  Who  in  America.^ ^ 

"Take  the  Cambridge  calendar,"  says  Macaulay,  in  one 
of  his  speeches  in  Parliament, — "take  the  Cambridge  cal- 
endar, or  take  the  Oxford  calendar,  for  two  hundred  years; 
look  at  the  Church,  the  parliament,  or  the  bar,  and  it  has 
always  been  the  case  that  the  men  who  were  first  in  the 
competition  of  the  schools,  have  been  first  in  the  competi- 
tion of  life. ' ' 

"The  civil  and  political  history  of  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States  for  half  a  century  before  and  after  the  Revo- 
lution may  be  read  in  the  large  capitals  which  distinguish 
the  governors  and  judges,  the  senators  and  representatives 
in  Congress,  on  the  catalogues  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Nassau 
Hall  and  Columbia  Colleges." — Dr.  Willimn  S.  Tyler. 

"  Eemember  in  general  that  a  college  education  increases  a 
young  man's  possibilities  of  reaching  eminence  and  wealth 
and  usefulness  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  thou- 
sandfold. ' ' — President  J.  W.  Bashford. 


CHAPTEE  XI 
THE  COLLEGE  MAN'S  INFLUENCE 

It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  accurately 
estimate  the  influence  for  weal  or  woe  of  any 
one  man  or  group  of  men.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
quite  within  the  compass  of  possibility  to 
reach  certain  conclusions  which  shall  reason- 
ably satisfy  and  convince  one  of  the  general 
trend  and,  to  a  limited  degree,  to  determine 
the  worth  and  extent  of  individual  influence. 
Some  men  are  so  obviously  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  their  fellow  men  in  attainments  and 
achievements  that  they  may  be  classified  and 
considered  by  themselves.  Such  persons  are 
found  in  the  vanguard  of  the  various  profes- 
sions and  pursuits  of  life.  Biographical  facts 
concerning  such  are  easily  accessible  and 
usually  reliable.  Then,  too,  the  student  may 
readily  ascertain  the  consensus  of  public 
opinion  and  the  judgment  of  experts  respect- 
ing the  value  of  their  achievements. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  college 
man  as  a  fair  representative  of  the  man  of 
brains ;  now  we  propose  to  show  some  reasons 
for  this  position.  We  recognize  that  at  any 
given  time  only  a  very  small  proportion 
227 


228      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

of  the  whole  population  is  college  edu- 
cated. We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  fact 
that  many  men  attain  eminent  success  with- 
out the  higher  education.  The  college  man 
has  a  place  among  the  leaders  and  makers  of 
public  opinion;  it  shall  be  our  endeavor  to 
discover  it.  If  perchance  it  be  found  that 
he  occupies  a  unique  position  among  men  of 
distinction  it  will  certainly  afford  a  deal  of 
encouragement  to  those  who  are  longing  for 
the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
the  world.  It  is  proved  beyond  all  reasonable 
question  that  there  has  been  a  decided  advance 
made  in  the  religious  life  of  the  students  of 
our  colleges  within  the  past  century  and  that  it 
was  never  more  genuine  and  manly  than  to- 
day. If  the  college  man's  influence  is  pro- 
nounced and  effective  all  out  of  proportion  to 
his  numbers  in  the  community  then  we  surely 
have  trustworthy  evidence  that  the  Church  is 
not  losing  her  grip  on  the  men  of  intellect. 

In  direct  corroboration  of  the  statements 
made  we  cite  the  opinion  of  an  expert 
scholar^  on  the  subject  we  are  consider- 
ing :  "  Bismarck  said  that  one-third  of  the 
graduates  of  the  German  universities  ruled  the 
empire,  and  a  similar  state  of  affairs  is  coming 
to  pass  in  our  own  land.  The  work  of  the  (col- 
lege) Associations,  in  helping  to  make  these 

^  F.  G.  Cressey,  The  Church  and  Young  Men,  p.  183. 


The  College  Man's  Influence       229 

rulers  men  of  earnest  spiritual  life,  is  of  inesti- 
mable value  for  the  future  welfare  of  the  nation. 
Within  the  history  of  Association  work,  the 
proportion  of  Christians  in  American  colleges 
has  changed  from  less  than  one-third  to  more 
than  one-half,  a  result  due  in  no  small  degree 
to  this  agency.  Over  thirty  thousand  conver- 
sions of  students  are  traceable  at  least  in  part 
to  its  work." 

Yery  fortunately  the  weight  of  the  college 
man's  influence  in  the  nation  at  large  has  re- 
ceived the  most  scrutinizing  attention.  And 
there  is  a  mass  of  facts  on  the  subject,  already 
collected  and  classified,  available  to  every  one, 
and  most  rewarding  reading  for  the  skeptic 
and  the  agnostic.  As  would  be  naturally  ex- 
pected the  investigators  first  in  this  field  of 
study  have  been  the  educators.  These  educa- 
tors are  so  uniformly  reliable  that  few  would 
be  willing  to  question  their  conclusions ;  but, 
happily,  the  results  of  their  investigation  tally 
so  completely  and  exactly  with  the  results  of 
those  studying  the  subject  from  a  totally  dif- 
ferent viewpoint  that  all  must  be  satisfied. 
The  writer  began  an  independent  investigation 
of  these  facts,  but  others  have  entered  so 
extensively  and  thoroughly  into  the  subject, 
and  his  treatment  here  is  of  necessity  so 
limited,  that  it  has  been  deemed  wise  to  utilize 
the   results   obtained  from  many  sources.     It 


230      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

should  be  said  that  through  the  exceeding 
courtesy  of  several  students  of  the  subject, 
the  results  of  their  study  have  been  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  writer,  and  to  them  full 
credit  will  be  given. 

Probably  no  American  has  made  a  more 
careful,  conscientious  and  concise  study  of  this 
subject  than  President  Charles  F.  Thwing  of 
the  Western  Reserve  University.  In  his  sug- 
gestive and  exceedingly  helpful  volume, 
"  Within  College  Walls,"  a  chapter  is  devoted 
to  this  subject.  From  it  we  make  liberal  quo- 
tations and  draw  many  interesting  facts. 

Under  the  supervision  of  President  Thwing, 
a  very  thorough  examination  was  made  of  the 
six  volumes  known  as  "  Appleton's  Cyclopaadia 
of  American  Biography."  This  extensive  work 
contains  sketches,  more  or  less  complete,  of 
fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
persons.  All  these  persons  are  American  and 
most  of  them  are  native  born.  The  design  of 
the  cyclopaedia  is  to  present  the  fifteen 
thousand  persons  who  have  been  the  most 
successful  and  distinguished  in  American 
history.  Here  is  a  thesaurus  of  information 
which,  subject  to  obvious  limitations,  fur- 
nishes the  most  complete  list  of  eminent 
Americans.     Dr.  Thwing  says : 

"Of  the  15,142  men  named  in  the  book, 
5,326  are  college  men,  or  slightly  more  than 


The  College  Man's  Influence       231 

one-third.  Of  them  also  941  are  what  may  be 
called  academy  but  not  college  men.^  Among 
the  interesting  questions  upon  which  this 
survey  sheds  light  is  the  question,  In  what 
vocations  is  found  the  largest  portion  of  college 
men  ?  I  ma}^  now  say  that  the  results  of  this 
examination  were  classified  under  seventeen 
professional  divisions :  clergymen,  soldiers, 
lawyers,  statesmen,  business  men,  naval  offi- 
cers, authors,  physicians,  artists,  educators, 
scientists,  journalists,  public  men,  inventors, 
actors,  explorers,  or  pioneers,  and  philan- 
thropists. There  are  515  naval  officers 
sketched,  of  whom  only  49  are  college  men, 
or  2.9  per  cent.  Essentially  the  same  pro- 
portion is  found  among  soldiers :  of  no  less 
than  1,752  names  mentioned,  1,264  do  not 
represent  a  college  training:  436  represent 
only  an  academical  training.  Of  the  107 
actors  mentioned,  only  8  are  college  men. 
The  percentages  found  in  the  other  callings 
are  as  follows  :  pioneers  and  explorers,  3.6  per 
cent. ;  artists,  10.4  per  cent. ;  inventors,  11  per 
cent. ;  philanthropists,  16  per  cent. ;  business 
men,  17  per  cent. ;  public  men,  18  per  cent. ; 
statesmen,  33  per  cent. ;  authors,  37  per  cent. ; 
physicians,  46  per  cent. ;  lawyers,  50  per  cent. ; 
clergymen,  58  per  cent. ;  educators,  61  per 
cent.;  scientists,  63  percent."^ 

1  Within  College  Walls,  p.  160.  '^  Ibid,  pp.  163,  164. 


232      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

It  will  further  show  that  while  under  the 
usual  estimate  only  one  physician  in  twenty 
has  a  college  training,  of  those  physicians 
who  have  done  work  sufficiently  conspicuous 
to  deserve  a  place  in  the  cyclopaedia,  nearly 
one-half  are  found  to  belong  to  this  small  per- 
centage, i.  e.,  the  five  per  cent,  of  physicians 
who  are  college  men  contains  forty-six  per 
cent,  of  those  whose  names  are  listed.  The 
same  kind  of  comparison  respecting  the  legal 
profession  indicates  that  the  twenty  per  cent, 
of  college  trained  lawyers  contains  fifty  per 
cent,  of  those  who  reach  eminence  in  the  pro- 
fession. Concerning  the  ministry  the  same  is 
true  in  general,  though  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  list  includes  many  who  have 
won  distinction  in  those  denominations  which 
formerly  discouraged  an  educated  ministry. 
Every  year  the  proportion  of  college  men  in 
the  ministry  increases.  Seventeen  per  cent,  of 
the  business  men  who  have  won  conspicuous 
success  were  trained  in  college.  There  were 
1,105  names  in  the  list  of  which  161  were 
college  men.  If  it  were  possible  to  estimate 
the  number  of  business  men,  during  the  period 
under  consideration,  and  then  find  what  pro- 
portion of  them  succeeded  sufficiently  to  have 
their  names  inserted  in  the  cyclopaedia,  and 
then  compare  this  result  with  the  limited 
number  of  college  men  who  were  engaged  in 


The  College  Man's  Influence       233 

business  at  the  time  the  work  was  compiled, 
the  showing  for  the  college  trained  business 
man  would  be  very  marked.  And  so  one 
might  follow  down  throughout  the  list  of  pro- 
fessions and  pursuits  with  much  the  same  re- 
sult, showing  conclusively  that  the  college 
man  for  some  reason  distances  his  competitor 
in  every  field  in  which  he  enters.  This  war- 
rants the  conclusion  that  his  influence  is  al- 
together out  of  proportion  to  his  numbers. 

It  is  also  important  to  note  that  there  is  a 
difference  in  these  various  professions  respect- 
ing the  quality  of  influence.  In  those  pro- 
fessions which  by  general  consensus  of  opinion 
exert  the  greatest  influence  we  find  the 
proportion  of  college  men  unusually  large. 
The  largest  per  cent,  of  college  men  is  found 
among  the  statesmen,  authors,  physicians, 
lawyers,  editors,  clergymen,  educators  and 
scientists.  Most  assuredly  these  represent 
those  professions  which  are  most  influential  in 
originating  and  forming  public  opinion.  It  is 
significant  that  the  college  men  furnish  nearly 
fifty  per  cent,  of  these  distinguished  names. 
Hence  it  follows  that  in  a  cyclopgedia  listing 
only  those  persons  reaching  eminence  in  those 
professions  which  concern  themselves  specially 
with  the  training  of  the  young,  the  directing 
of  the  affairs  of  church,  school  and  state, 
considerably   more   than  half   would  be  col- 


234      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

lege  men.  This  indicates  either  that  the 
college  trained  man  possesses  superior  intel- 
lectual qualifications  and  consequently  seeks 
the  higher  education,  or  receives  from  his  col- 
lege course  that  peculiar  preparation  and 
stimulus  which  equips  him  for  efficient  leader- 
ship. In  either  case  if  there  is  a  steady 
advance  in  the  spiritual  life  of  the  college 
man,  then  surely  the  Church  is  not  losing  her 
hold  on  the  men  of  intellect. 

Dr.  Thwing  has  treated  the  subject  even 
more  fully  in  another  volume,  "  The  American 
College  in  American  Life,"  to  which  we  would 
refer  every  one  w^ho  would  have  more  ample 
proof  of  the  unique  influence  of  the  college 
man.  In  this  book  are  given  the  results  of  a 
painstaking  examination  of  Dr.  Sprague's 
"  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  in  which 
carefully  prepared  and  somewhat  lengthy 
biographical  sketches  of  eleven  hundred  and 
seventy  clergymen  are  given.  In  this  list  of 
distinguished  clergymen  seventy-four  per  cent, 
of  the  Episcopalians,  seventy-eight  per  cent,  of 
the  Presbyterians,  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  Con- 
gregationalists  and  ninety-seven  per  cent,  of 
the  IJnitarians  are  college  graduates.^ 

The  ratio  is  somewhat  smaller  among  the 
Baptists,  for  the  reason  that  the  denomination 
for  a  long  time  discouraged  long  and  special 
» pp.  47-49. 


The  College  Man's  Influence       235 

training  for  the  ministry.  Dr.  Sprague  issued 
this  monumental  work  nearly  half  a  century 
ago.  Since  that  time  there  has  been  a  decided 
change  in  all  those  denominations  which  then 
placed  a  low  estimate  upon  the  higher  educa- 
tion. The  annals  of  the  American  pulpit 
written  to-day  would  certainly  show  a  much 
larger  ratio  of  collegiate  educated  men  in  the 
ministry  as  a  whole.  Whatever  may  be  said 
concerning  the  influence  of  the  minister  in  the 
community  now,  time  was  when  he  was  the 
village  autocrat  and  the  superior  of  the  people. 
Somewhat  of  this  power  has  gradually  been 
transferred  to  men  of  other  professions.  Never- 
theless, taking  the  country  as  a  whole  the  influ- 
ence of  the  ministry,  collectively  as  well.as  in- 
dividually, places  it  in  the  vanguard  of  progress. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant 
studies  of  this  subject  has  been  made  by  John 
"W.  Leonard,  editor  of  Who  '<§  Who  in  America. 
Certainly  no  other  investigator  has  had  such 
an  unusual  opportunity  or  such  valuable  ma- 
terial at  hand  for  the  study.  The  data  for 
the  study  is  autobiographical  and  consequently 
more  decidedly  accurate  than  any  other  similar 
compilation  of  facts.  Then,  too,  the  results  of 
the  study  are  specially  valuable  and  convincing 
because  of  the  broad  interpretation  of  success 
given  by  the  editor  and  his  corps  of  workers. 
This    question  he  thus   raises   and   answers: 


236      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

"  What  then  is  a  fair  definition  of  success  ?  It 
is  the  achievement  of  honest  ambition  in  any 
worthy  line  of  work,  accompanied  by  a  just 
recognition  of  that  achievement  by  that  part 
of  society  interested  in  such  labors  " — a  defi- 
nition peculiarly  happy  and  satisfactory. 

The  biennial  publication  of  Who^s  Who  in 
America  gives  concise  and  condensed  biogra- 
phies of  all  the  men  and  women  *'  in  reputable 
and  useful  occupations  who  have  obtained 
more  than  local  prominence."     The  edition  of 


Number  of  names  in  edition 

Furnishing  educational  data,  general  and  technical 

Furnished  no  educational  data 

Furnished  general  educational  data— basis  of  computation 

General  Education 

Graduates  of  universities  and  colleges  conferring  baccalaureate  degree 
in  letters,  science  or  philosophy 

Graduates  of  the  United  States  Naval  Academy 

Graduatesof  the  United  States  Military  Academy 

College  graduates  (including  Army  and  Navy) 

Attended  universities  and  colleges,  but  not  graduated 

Total  collegians,  graduated  and  ungraduated 

Closed  education  in  academies,  seminaries  and  other  secondary  schools 

Finished  in  normal  schools 

Have  high  school  education  only 

Have  only  common  or  public  school  education 

Privately  educated 

Self-taught 

Educated  abroad 

TECHNiCAii  Education 

Graduates  in  medicine .• 

Graduates  of  technical  schools  (engineers,  architects,  chemists,  agri- 
culturalists, etc.) 

Graduates  in  theology 

Graduates  in  law 

Naval  oflScers  not  graduated  as  such 

Military  oflScers  not  graduated  as  such 

(From  Who  's  Who  in  America,  by  permission  of  the  author, 


The  College  Man's  Influence         237 

1899  contained  8,602  such  biographies,  that  of 
1901,  11,651,  that  of  1903,  13,204  Each  list 
covers  only  living  persons,  and  for  this  reason 
is  of  peculiar  interest.  These  facts  are  all 
autobiographical  and  have  been  submitted  to 
the  writers  for  revision  and  correction.  Mr. 
Leonard  soon  discerned  that  these  personal 
statements  might  present  data  for  special  edu- 
cational statistics.  This  investigation  has  been 
followed  in  the  last  three  publications  with 
most  interesting  results.     We  call  attention  to 


PRESENT  EDITION  OF  1903-5 

EDITION 
1901-2 

EDITION 
1899 

Men 

Women 

Total 

Total 

Total 

Per  ct. 

Per  ct. 

Per  ct. 

Per  ct. 

Per  ct. 

No. 

of 

No. 

of 

No. 

of 

No. 

of 

No. 

of 

10,618 

766 

11,384 

8,141 

6,094 

13,204 

1,239 

14,443 

11,551 

8,602 

11,381 

844 

12,325 

9,760 

7,295 

1,723 

395 

2,118 

1,791 

1,307 

10,618 

100.00 

766 

100.00 

11,384 

100.00 

8,141 

100.00 

6,029 

100.00 

5,815 

54.77 

182 

23.76 

5,997 

52.68 

4,521 

55.53 

3,237 

53.12 

174 

1.69 

179 

1.57 

121 

1.49 

109 

1.79 

203 

1.91 

203 

1.78 

168 

2.06 

162 

2.66 

6,197 

58.36 

182 

23.76 

6,379 

56.03 

4,810 

59.08 

3,508 

58.16 

1,589 

15.05 

65 

8.49 

1,663 

14.61 

965 

11.85 

733 

12.16 

7,795 

73.41 

247 

32.25 

7,942 

69.76 

5,775 

70.94 

4,241 

70.. S4 

1,166 

10.98 

233 

30.42 

1,399 

12.29 

889 

10.92 

693 

11.49 

126 

1.19 

45 

5.87 

171 

1.50 

117 

1.44 

79 

1.31 

353 

3.32 

43 

5.62 

396 

3.48 

239 

2.94 

171 

1.41 

1,078 

10.15 

33 

4.31 

1,111 

9.76 

886 

9.92 

640 

10.61 

281 

2.65 

165 

21.55 

446 

3.92 

282 

3.46 

185 

3.07 

24 

0.23 

24 

0.21 

31 

0.38 

20 

0.33 

71 

23 

94 

336 

298b 

1,120 

20 

1,140 

717 

553 

342 

3b 

545 

327 

265 

808 

3 

811 

494 

378 

976 

5 

981 

521 

336 

44 

44 

14 

9 

103 

103 

36 

35 

John  W.  Leonard,  and  of  the  publishers,  A.  N.  Marquis  &  Co.) 


238      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

the  editor's  declaration  that  those  who  have 
not  furnished  educational  data  are  known  to  be 
persons  of  not  inferior  educational  advantages, 
but  have  simply  failed  to  supply  the  desired 
facts.  "  Had  they  supplied  the  data  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  relative  edu- 
cational standing  of  the  entire  number  would 
have  shown  no  material  change." 

Considering  the  broad  interpretation  of  suc- 
cess and  the  large  number  of  persons  enumer- 
ated, the  results  are  surprising,  being  remark- 
able not  alone  for  the  notably  high  ratio  of 
college  men  but  also  for  the  close  agreement 
of  the  three  tabulations  which  from  beginning 
to  end  were  wrought  out  independently.  The 
slightly  rising  percentage  is  just  what  the  ob- 
server would  most  naturally  expect  from  the 
fact  there  is  a  slight  increase  in  the  percent- 
age of  men  seeking  a  college  education. 
^'  These  tables,"  says  the  author,  "  are  believed 
to  be  unique  in  their  origin  and  bearings,  and 
to  present,  probably  in  a  more  concrete  and 
definite  form  than  any  statistics  heretofore 
printed,  figures  that  serve  to  illumine  current 
inquiry  as  to  the  value  of  higher  education." 

Thus  from  the  latest,  most  thorough,  and 
scientific  investigation,  it  is  discovered  that 
over  seventy-three  per  cent,  of  persons  now 
living  in  America  who  have  won  conspicuous 
success  are  college  educated,  and,  moreover, 


The  College  Man's  Influence       239 

that  the  percentage  is  gradually  rising.  This 
hrings  our  study  down  to  date  and  would 
seem  to  present  sufficient  evidence  to  satisfy 
the  most  skeptical  that  the  college  man  is  a 
fair  representative  of  the  man  of  intellect,  not 
only  in  the  essentially  scholastic  professions, 
but  in  other  pursuits  which  demand  superior 
talents  as  well.  The  reader  should  ever  keep 
in  mind  the  fact  that  the  proportion  of  college 
men  to  the  great  mass  of  men  who  compete 
for  the  prizes  in  these  more  conspicuous  pur- 
suits of  life  is  exceedingly  small.  If  the 
Church  is  steadily  increasing  its  influence  upon 
college  men,  and  these  men  secure  three- 
fourths  of  the  best  positions  in  life,  then  it 
follows  that  the  Church  has  not  lost  its  hold 
on  the  makers  and  moulders  of  public  opinion. 
Various  persons  at  different  times  have 
made  a  study  of  those  occupying  the  highest 
positions  of  statesmanship  in  our  country,  and 
it  has  been  found  that  of  the  fifty-six  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  forty- two 
had  a  liberal  education.  Three  members  of 
the  committee  of  five  appointed  to  draft  the 
Declaration  were  college  trained.  Twenty- 
nine  of  the  fifty-five  men  composing  the  Con- 
vention of  1787,  which  framed  the  Constitu- 
tion, were  college  educated.  Every  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  United  States  with  one  exception 
has  been  a  college  graduate.     More  than  sixty 


240      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

per  cent,  of  the  associate  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  of  the  judges  of  the  circuit  courts 
have  been  college  men.  At  the  present  time 
every  member  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education.  More  than  fifty 
per  cent,  of  the  members  of  the  national  Sen- 
ate and  House  have  been  college  bred,  while  a 
larger  percentage  holds  in  relation  to  presi- 
dents, vice-presidents  and  speakers  of  the 
House.  College  men  have  been  notably  con- 
spicuous in  presidential  cabinets,  in  some  de- 
partments numbering  more  than  seventy -five 
per  cent.  In  governmental  service  abroad,  es- 
pecially in  the  most  honorable  positions,  the 
college  trained  man  has  been  much  in  evi- 
dence. The  same  ratio  obtains  in  all  the 
higher  positions  of  public  life,  with  a  gradually 
diminishing  percentage  as  the  public  trust  be- 
comes less  important. 

Contrary  to  current  opinion  and  the  per- 
sonal declaration  of  some  eminently  successful 
men  in  commercial  life,  the  college  man  has 
won  some  of  the  best  prizes  in  the  business 
world.  In  "Educational  Truths  for  the 
Twentieth  Century,"  James  W.  Bashford, 
President  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University  has 
this  to  say  concerning  college  men  in  business  : 

"It  is  not  sufficient  to  mention  names. 
Doubtless  the  opponent  of  college  education 
can  name  many,  like  John  Jacob  Astor,  Car- 


The  College  Man's  Influence       241 

negie,  Peter  Cooper,  Girard,  Mackaye,  Pull- 
man, Peabody,  Slater  and  Yanderbilt  who 
never  entered  a  college.  But  we  must  remem- 
ber that,  as  the  colleges  have  furnished  only 
one  person  in  750  of  the  men  competing  for 
wealth,  they  are  entitled  to  only  one  repre- 
sentative in  750  among  the  rich.  A  list  of 
one  hundred  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the 
United  States  was  recently  compiled,  and  their 
early  lives  were  studied  as  far  as  possible. 
Sketches  of  eighty  of  these  men  were  found ; 
and  the  sketches  showed  that  thirty  of  them, 
or  thirty-seven  and  a  half  per  cent,  were  col- 
lege graduates,  and  that  twenty-two  more  had 
academic  or  professional  training,  while  only 
twenty-eight  persons  out  of  the  eighty,  or 
thirty-five  per  cent,  were  furnished  by  the 
millions  of  American  people  having  only  a 
common  school  education.  So  far  as  a  college 
training  acting  as  a  bar  to  wealth,  according 
to  these  statistics,  it  gives  the  college  graduate 
two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  times  as  many 
possibilities  of  becoming  rich  as  his  less  edu- 
cated brother  enjoys." 

The  same  writer  has  made  an  interesting 
study  of  the  influence  of  the  college  man  in 
the  family,  indicating  how  these  college 
men  of  influence  have  been  perpetuated  gen- 
eration after  generation  in  certain  illustrious 
families.     A  few  names  v\'ill  be  sufficient  to 


242      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

suggest  the  trend  of  the  thought.  The 
Adamses,  Quincys,  Fields,  Beechers,  Storrs, 
Edwardses,  D  wights,  and  a  host  of  other  names 
of  similar  import  might  be  added.  Of  the 
fourteen  hundred  and  sixty-seven  descendants 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  only  six  have  shown 
the  slightest  criminal  taint;  and  only  one, 
Aaron  Burr,  became  notoriously  wicked.  Two 
hundred  and  twenty-three  of  these  descend- 
ants have  been  college  graduates — more  than 
one  in  every  seven.  More  than  sixty  became 
clergymen,  eighty-seven  were  eminent  law- 
yers, four  became  state  governors,  three  were 
United  States  senators  and  many  were  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  and  nine  became  famous  col- 
lege presidents.  All  this  indicates  that  when 
the  ameliorating  influences  of  the  nation  are 
considered,  the  college  man  is  rendering  a 
most  significant  service. 

Having  shown  that  the  college  man  has  been 
conspicuous  in  the  higher  walks  of  life,  in  fact 
securing  much  more  than  half  of  the  best 
places  at  the  disposal  of  his  countrymen,  and 
having  won  an  equal  percentage  of  success  in 
the  competitions  of  life  elsewhere,  we  would 
inquire  further  what  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion are  college  educated  ?  While  this  inquiry 
cannot  be  fully  answered  respecting  the  earlier 
periods  of  American  history  there  are,  however, 
certain  data  which  furnish  a  reasonable  basis 


The  College  Man's  Influence      243 

for  general  conclusions.  Dr.  J.  W.  Bashford, 
already  quoted,  in  an  article,  "  Why  go  to 
College  ?  "  ^  makes  the  following  estimate  : 
"  The  ratio  of  male  college  graduates  to  the 
male  adult  population  throughout  the  history 
of  the  United  States  has  been  one  to  seven 
hundred  and  fifty.  But  the  ratio  of  college 
graduates  to  non-graduates  throughout  our  his- 
tory has  been,  among  Congressmen,  thirty-two 
to  sixty-eight ;  among  Senators,  forty-six  to 
sixty-four;  among  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  sixty -five  to  thirty-five ;  among  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  seventy- three  to  twenty- 
seven.  Dividing  the  ratio  of  college  graduates 
to  non-graduates  in  Congress,  etc.,  by  the  ratio 
in  the  nation,  we  find  that  a  college  training 
increases  a  young  man's  possibilities  of  reach- 
ing the  House  of  Eepresentatives  352  times,  of 
reaching  the  Senate  530  times  ;  of  reaching  the 
Presidency  1,392  times;  of  reaching  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  2,027  times. 
.  .  .  If  you  forget  the  detailed  figures  men- 
tioned above,"  he  adds,  "  remember  in  general 
that  a  college  education  increases  a  young  man's 
possibilities  of  reaching  eminence  and  wealth 
and  usefulness  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to 
two  thousandfold."  This  same  eminent  writer 
elsewhere  quotes  figures  from  Dr.  Harris,  Com- 
missioner of  Education  for  the  United  States, 

*  Christian  Endeavor   World,  Nov.  1,  1900. 


244      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

to  this  effect,  that  the  ratio  of  college  gradu- 
ates to  the  entire  population  to-day  is  one  to 
two  hundred  and  eighty,  and  that  this  ratio  is 
further  reduced  by  the  fact  that  only  about 
half  of  the  population  ever  reach  the  age  of  the 
college  graduate  and  the  active  competitions 
of  life.  Hence  he  adds  that  the  number  of 
college  graduates  compared  with  the  popula- 
tion reaching  the  age  of  twenty-one  and  thus 
entering  upon  the  struggles  of  life  are  one  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty- seven.  Dr.  Harris 
further  observes,  that  the  professions,  political 
offices,  etc.,  are  largely  restricted  to  men,  con- 
sequently the  number  of  men  graduating  from 
colleges  to-day  as  compared  with  the  total 
number  of  men  reaching  twenty-one  is  one  to 
ninety-one.  Dr.  Harris  has  also  traced  these 
statistics  back  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  and 
has  discovered  that  the  quota  receiving  a  liberal 
education  to-day  is  three  times  greater  than  it 
was  twenty-five  years  ago.  Hence,  covering 
the  period  which  is  included  by  the  age  of  most 
men  now  in  active  service  and  specially  by 
those  who  have  attained  national  distinction, 
the  ratio  of  college  men  to  their  male  com- 
petitors is  one  to  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
three.  Dr.  Bashford,  after  a  searching  study 
and  widely  extended  inquiry,  believes  that  the 
conservative  estimate  for  the  entire  history  of 
the  United  States  is  one  college  man  to  seven 


The  College  Man's  Influence      245 

hundred  and  fifty  men  who  have  reached 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  ^ 

There  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
anything  like  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  ratio 
of  college  men  to  the  male  population  of  equal 
age.  This,  however,  is  evident,  that  there  is  a 
constant  rise  in  the  percentage,  and  that  the 
ratio  to-day  is  several  times  larger  than  it  was 
a  century  ago.  Many  different  estimates  have 
been  given  which  vary  widely  to  either  extreme 
from  what  is  given  above.  Several  have  based 
their  enumerations  solely  upon  the  number  of 
students  in  the  colleges.  This  is  obviously  an 
insufficient  basis,  since  there  are  many  college 
graduates  out  in  active  life  who  must  be  con- 
sidered. On  the  whole,  then,  we  believe  that 
the  estimate  already  given  is  as  reasonable  as 
any  now  available. 

Assuming,  then,  that  there  is  only  one  college 
man  in  every  seven  hundred  and  fifty  males  of 
similar  age  when  we  consider  the  whole  of 
American  history,  it  will  become  at  once  ap- 
parent that  the  college-bred  man  has  exerted 
an  influence  altogether  out  of  proportion  to  his 
numerical  strength.  Again  it  should  be  noticed 
that  while  this  ratio  for  the  present  is  much 
larger  between  the  college  men  and  non-grad- 
uates, probably  five  times  larger  than  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  there  has  been  more  than  a 

^  Cf.  Educational  Truths  for  the  Twentieth  Century. 


246      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

corresponding  gain  of  successful  college  men  in 
the  competitions  of  life.  The  proportion  of 
college  men  has  increased,  but  the  percentage 
of  successful  college  men  in  competition  with 
the  non-graduates  has  increased  much  the  more 
rapidly.  So  long  as  these  facts  remain  and  the 
college  man  continues  to  increase  in  numbers 
and  efficiency,  the  Church,  which  has  been  the 
mother  of  colleges,  ought  to  rejoice.  And  in- 
asmuch as  the  advance  of  religious  interest  in 
college  is  developing  faster  than  the  numerical 
increase  of  students,  there  is  great  occasion  for 
encouragement.  Those  who  are  most  fearless 
and  persistent  in  search  for  truth,  who  are  cer- 
tainly a  fair  representative  of  the  men  of 
brains,  are  not  deserting  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  his  Church,  but  on  the  other  hand  are  ral- 
lying in  greater  numbers  and  truer  consecra- 
tion under  the  Captain  of  our  salvation. 


THE  CHUECHES'  EQUIPMENT  FOR 
BEACHING  MEN 


' '  In  the  progress  of  the  kingdom,  no  one  thing  in  recent 
years  is  more  significant  than  the  aroused  conscience  and  in- 
creasing interest  and  activity  of  young  men  in  Christian 
work.  The  tide  has  turned.  It  is  beating  at  the  doors  of 
our  churches.  All  that  it  asks  is  a  chance, — the  open  door. 
Where  entrance  has  been  given,  the  flow  of  a  new  life  has 
come  surging  through  the  Church,  and  with  irresistible 
power." — Rev.  Geo.  Whitefield  Mead,  Modern  Blethods  in 
Church  Work,  p.  162. 

"Many  years  ago  the  venerable  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh  said 
about  the  Student  Volunteers,  '  Has  any  such  offering  of 
living  young  men  and  women  been  presented  in  our  age,  in 
our  country,  in  any  age,  in  any  country  ? '  How  much 
truer  these  words  are  now  than  when  first  spoken  !  This 
great  movement,  born,  as  we  must  believe,  of  God,  means 
more  new  recruits  and  better  trained  men  for  the  foreign 
field  :  it  means  a  new  missionary  spirit  in  the  home 
churches." 

"  It  is  no  longer  a  drawback  to  a  young  man  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  a  church.  It  is  no  embarrassment,  it  is  an  encour- 
agement. It  is  no  longer  a  hindrance,  it  is  a  help." — 
President  McKinley. 

' '  Let  us  neither  sigh  for  the  past  nor  fear  for  the  future. 
The  new  century  will  bring  new  perplexities,  but  they  will 
be  the  problems  of  progress,  which  must  ever  be  solved  by 
more  progress.  The  backward  look  never  sees  the  way  out. 
Let  us  face  the  future  with  courage  and  with  faith,  for  of  all 
the  ages  that  have  come  and  gone,  not  one  has  such  hope  for 
humanity  as  the  twentieth  century." — Josiah  Strong,  The 
Times  and  Young  Men,  p.  239. 


CHAPTEK  XII 

THE    CHURCHES'  EQUIPMENT  FOR 
REACHING   MEN 

More  than  one-half  of  the  college  men  are 
professing  Christians  and  members  of  evangel- 
ical churches.  The  college  man  furnishes  more 
than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  makers  and  leaders 
of  public  opinion.  As  we  have  already  shoAvn, 
the  success  of  the  churches  in  reaching  men  of 
intellect,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  college 
student,  is  far  greater  than  for  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  years,  if  not  for  the  entire 
period  of  American  history  back  to  the  earliest 
colonial  times.  All  things  considered,  the  ris- 
ing percentage  of  professing  Christians  among 
college  students  for  nearly  a  century  and  a 
half  is  most  remarkable.  These  facts  are  cer- 
tainl}^  most  encouraging. 

The  situation  viewed  from  within  the 
churches  is  also  cheering.  The  picket-line  has 
been  advanced,  many  strongholds  have  been 
taken,  giants  overcome,  new  territory  added. 
All  this  is  most  stimulating.  ^Nevertheless,  the 
situation,  viewed  from  outside  the  churches, 
reveals  much  land  yet  to  be  possessed  and  is 
decidedly  depressing.  The  truth  is  that  while 
249 


250      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

we  have  made  actual  progress  and  are  reaching 
the  men  of  intellect  with  a  success  unknown 
hitherto,  there  is  still  a  great  multitude  of  men 
unreached  by  the  churches  ;  there  are  many  of 
those  who  are  interested  in  spiritual  matters 
who  never  become  self-sustaining  in  their  re- 
ligious experience ;  and  there  are  compara- 
tively few  men  of  commanding  spiritual  power 
in  the  community. 

Under  these  conditions,  at  once  encouraging 
and  depressing,  certain  questions  are  bound  to 
arise  concerning  the  religious  outlook  for  the 
churches  respecting  men  of  intellect.  What  is 
the  attitude  of  the  churches  toward  this  per- 
plexing problem  ?  What  practical  effort  are 
they  putting  forth  toward  its  solution  ?  What 
is  the  equipment  of  the  churches  for  this  great 
and  glorious  work?  What  are  the  religious 
signs  of  the  times?  The  incoming  tide  of 
worldliness,  increasing  materialism,  desecra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Day,  waning  respect  for  the 
authority  of  God's  Word,  small  accessions  to 
church-membership,  are  not  auspicious  indica- 
tions ;  but  there  are  signs,  on  the  other  hand, 
full  of  hope  and  encouragement.  Of  these 
favorable  signs  we  would  mention  three :  (1) 
The  churches  recognize  the  need  of  deeper 
spiritual  life,  more  definite  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  better  equipment.  (2)  The  churches 
and  religious  leaders  are  determined  to  know 


The  Churches'  Equipment  251 

the  exact  conditions  and  to  meet  them  con- 
scientiously and  effectually.  (3)  Certain  defi- 
nite religious  movements  have  recently  been 
inaugurated  full  of  promise  for  the  future. 

Hope  always  rises  with  the  kindling  of  the 
fires  of  interest.  It  is  an  omen  of  good  that 
the  churches  are  awakening  to  their  responsi- 
bilities, are  beginning  to  appreciate  most 
keenly  their  needs,  and  already  are  regirding 
themselves  for  the  new  opportunities.  The 
first  step  towards  the  eradication  of  any  evil  is 
the  recognition  of  its  existence.  The  logical 
order  in  the  process  and  progress  of  any  re- 
form is  agitation,  education,  organization  and 
achievement.  A  conflict  of  interests  almost 
invariably  attends  the  stage  of  agitation,  yet 
not  infrequently  it  indicates  intense  vitality. 
The  churches  are  not  dead.  Sensitiveness  is'^a 
sign  of  life.  Indifference  betokens  spiritual 
degeneration.  The  spirit  of  the  churches  at 
any  time  is  interpreted  and  defined  by  the 
vital  issues  which  are  most  earnestly  consid- 
ered. There  are  four  such  issues  now  com- 
manding the  attention  of  religious  leaders  with 
absorbing  interest,  namely:  (1)  The  train- 
ing of  the  young  people  ;  (2)  organized  work 
of  men  for  men  in  the  local  churches  ;  (3) 
catechetical  instruction  for  the  children;  (4) 
the  application  of  modern  pedagogic  principles 
to  the  teaching  of  ethical  and  religious  truth. 


252      The  Churches  and  Educated  Mqn 

Each  of  these  issues  deals  directly  with  the 
relation  of  the  men  to  the  churches. 

There  has  already  been  an  immense  amount 
of  agitation  with  the  corresponding  education 
of  the  people.  Organization  has  quickly  fol- 
lowed the  awakening  in  every  instance.  Con- 
sequently the  churches  were  never  better 
equipped  than  to-day  for  the  work  before 
them.  We  shall  further  consider  these  four 
issues  in  their  bearing  upon  the  subject  under 
discussion. 

The  training  of  the  young  people  in  the 
churches  is  a  very  modern  enterprise.  Pos- 
sibly it  was  not  so  much  needed  when  con- 
ditions were  more  homogeneous  and  w^hen 
parental  training  around  the  family  hearth- 
stone was  so  different.  Sporadic  attempts 
here  and  there  indicated  the  growing  need 
of  a  well-equipped  young  people's  organiza- 
tion in  every  church.  And  for  this,  as  for 
every  great  movement,  God  prepares  his  leader. 
The  first  permanent  organization  of  the  young 
people,  capable  of  perpetuating  and  propagat- 
ing itself,  was  the  Young  People's  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor.  The  first  society  was 
formed  at  Portland,  Maine,  in  1881,  by  the  Rev. 
Francis  E.  Clark,  pastor  of  the  Williston  Con- 
gregational Church.  As  if  by  divine  appoint- 
ment the  essential  principles  found  in  that  first 
society  characterize  the  movement  which  now 


•     The  Churches'  Equipment         253 

numbers  tens  of  thousands  of  societies  and 
millions  of  members.  Other  organizations 
closely  patterned  after  the  Christian  Endeavor 
soon  sprang  into  existence  so  that  to-day  few- 
churches  can  be  found  without  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  young  people. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  has  been  a  train- 
ing-school for  many  of  the  most  efficient  of 
the  younger  leaders  in  Christian  work.  The 
movement  has  been  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  churches.  The  plan  of  the  organization, 
when  faithfully  followed,  produces  an  intelli- 
gent and  enthusiastic  devotion  to  "  Christ  and 
his  Church."  ]^o  organization  is  a  panacea 
for  all  spiritual  ills.  Incompetent  and  in- 
different leadership  in  pulpit  and  pew  has 
made  success  impossible  in  some  places.  But 
wherever  there  has  been  sane  and  sympathetic 
guidance  there  have  been  spiritual  progress 
and  development.  This  movement  is  too  w^ell 
known  to  require  any  further  w^ord  of  expla- 
nation here.  There  is  now  a  mass  of  literature 
accessible  to  every  one  interested  in  special 
work  for  and  among  the  young  people.  The 
denominational  barriers  have  been  effectually 
lowered  by  this  organization.  Indeed,  there  is 
hardly  an  advance  movement  of  the  Church 
which  is  not  ardently  supported  by  the  young 
people.  Missions,  temperance,  good  citizen- 
ship,  Bible    study.    Sabbath    observance    and 


254      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

many  kindred  religious  enterprises  have  re- 
ceived a  mighty  impetus  from  the  organized 
effort  of  Endeavorers.  And  the  work  is  but 
just  begun. 

The  splendid  achievements  of  the  Ep worth 
League,  Baptist  Union  and  other  kindred  de- 
nominational societies  truly  deserve  an  ex- 
tended consideration,  but  the  working  prin- 
ciples of  these  various  societies,  the  plan  of 
organization,  and  the  results  accomplished  are 
so  similar  to  those  of  the  Christian  Endeavor 
and  so  well  known  that  it  seems  unnecessary 
to  define  them  here.  The  Epworth  League 
alone  now  numbers  only  a  little  short  of  two 
millions  of  children  and  j^oung  people.  There 
are  thus  in  these  organizations  mighty  hosts 
of  young  people  in  training  for  Christ  and 
his  Church  w^ho  will  eventually  become  the 
makers  and  leaders  of  public  opinion. 

The  special  Christian  work  for  men  may  be 
best  considered  under  two  heads  : — the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  men's  fra- 
ternal organizations  in  the  local  churches.  We 
shall  first  consider  the  Association.  It  seems 
hardly  possible  that  fifty  years  ago  there  was 
almost  no  organized  Christian  effort  to  reach 
men.  Of  course  here  and  there  a  single  or- 
ganization or  a  small  group  of  societies  may 
be  discovered  by  a  perusal  of  old  church  his- 
tories.    But   there   was    no    organized   effort 


The  Churches'  Equipment         255 

worthy  of  the  name  till  the  formation  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  1851.  Its  timely  appearance, 
hearty  reception  and  phenomenal  growth  in- 
dicate the  urgency  of  the  need  and  the  splen- 
did adaptability  of  the  association  to  the 
highest  interests  of  the  community. 

The  great  jubilee  meeting  in  Boston  in  1901 
gave  such  publicity  to  the  various  departments 
of  Association  work  that  no  extended  charac- 
terization of  this  mighty  Christian  enterprise 
is  here  needed.  The  tri-unity  of  purpose  which 
animates  this  great  organization  is  well  ex- 
pressed by  its  seal  in  triangular  form  bearing 
respectively  on  its  three  sides  the  words  body, 
mind  and  soul.  In  the  gymnasiums  physical 
soundness  is  preached  and  produced.  In  the 
educational  classes  mental  fiber  and  force  is 
developed.  In  the  religious  work  the  char- 
acter is  molded  and  patterned  after  the  divine 
ideal.  Social  life  is  fostered  amid  a  whole- 
some environment.  The  virile  qualities  of 
high-class  manhood,  ever  in  evidence,  are  the 
practical  exponents  of  the  spiritual  life.  The 
Association  has  been  a  boon  of  incalculable 
worth  to  the  young  man  away  from  home. 
And  its  open  doors  are  ever  the  protest  against 
a  life  of  sin  and  shame,  and  the  cheery  invi- 
tation to  a  better  life.  The  Association  has 
performed  a  work  which  the  churches  unaided 
could  not  have  done.     It  has  provided  a  com- 


256      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

mon  center  for  all  the  denominations  and  has 
been  a  sort  of  religious  clearance-house  for 
many  matters  which  required  cooperative 
effort.  It  has  become  a  great  organized 
brotherhood  with  an  esprit  de  corps  so  sym- 
pathetic, profitable  and  powerful,  that  many 
a  man  has  been  won  by  it  to  real  life  from  a 
downward  course  through  sin  to  death.  It 
has  served  to  arouse  young  men  to  "stir  up 
the  gift "  within  them,  and  has  set  the  feet  of 
a  multitude  in  the  path  of  honor  and  success. 
The  Association  has  been  remarkably  efficient 
and  successful  among  the  soldiers  and  the  sail- 
ors. It  is  now  found  in  connection  with  about 
all  the  great  commercial  enterprises. 

One  phase  of  the  Association  work  demands 
special  attention  from  us.  It  is  the  College 
Branch.  There  was  of  course  a  great  deal  of 
Christian  work  done  before  the  advent  of  the 
Association,  but  with  its  appearance  there 
came  a  new  impulse.  In  all  probability  the 
Association  in  a  university  like  Yale  is  about 
the  best  example  of  religious  adaptation  to  a 
need  anywhere  to  be  found.  The  broad 
Christian  basis,  the  undenominational  char- 
acter, the  unique  flexibility  of  the  organiza- 
tion most  admirably  fits  it  for  the  peculiar 
work  of  reaching  the  college  man.  The 
Association  providentially  appeared  just  at  the 
time  when  the  college  most  needed  it.     As  we 


The  Churches'  Equipment         257 

have  shown,  there  has  been  an  increasing 
chasm  separating  the  college  and  the  commu- 
nity, till  to-day  the  university  life  is  quite 
unlike  that  found  elsewhere.  The  Association 
renders  excellent  service  as  an  intermediary 
between  Church  and  college.  It  anticipates  the 
coming  of  the  student  to  his  college,  extends 
a  warm  Christian  welcome  to  him,  affords  him 
opportunity  of  religious  impression  through 
reading-rooms,  personal  visitation,  various  serv- 
ices specially  adapted  for  his  need,  and 
creates  for  him  a  spiritual  atmosphere.  It 
does  more ;  it  provides  opportunity  for  the  ex- 
pression of  religious  consecration  in  definite 
service.  For  the  Association  not  only  con- 
serves and  concentrates  the  spiritual  forces  of 
the  college,  but  under  skilled  leadership  directs 
these  forces  into  those  channels  where  the 
greatest  good  may  be  accomplished.  College 
religion  has  no  place  for  shams  and  hypocri- 
sies. They  are  despised.  Frank,  virile, 
strenuous  spirituality  is  always  at  a  premium. 
Association  leaders  in  college  act  on  the 
principle,  w^hich  obtains  in  the  gymnasium  and 
classroom,  that  strength  and  culture  come  only 
through  the  proper  exercise  of  one's  powers. 
Hence  the  Christian  student  is  set  to  work. 
And  so  varied  are  the  opportunities  that  there 
is  always  plenty  of  work,  and  so  diversified 
that  each  has  something  to  do.     The  collegia 


258      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

thus  through  its  students  makes  a  direct  and 
valuable  contribution  to  the  volume  of  Chris- 
tian service  in  the  community.  But,  better  yet, 
these  young  men  thus  trained  graduate  from 
college  with  a  preparation  for  Christian 
service  of  greatest  worth  to  the  churches. 
Through  the  Association  the  religious  enthu- 
siasm of  the  student  finds  full  scope  for  expres- 
sion. All  those  various  sporadic  attempts  at 
organization,  for  Bible  study,  mission  work, 
conference  meetings,  etc.,  referred  to  in  the 
course  of  our  study,  without  loss  of  interest 
have  become  integral  parts  of  the  Association 
work.  Then,  too,  there  is  now  the  prepared 
medium  for  intercollegiate  conference,  litera- 
ture and  acquaintance.  The  meetings  on  Old 
Eound  Top,  ISTorthfield,  and  the  annual  student 
conferences  have  proven  a  Pentecostal  blessing 
to  the  colleges.  That  a  single  university  like 
Harvard  sends  a  delegation  of  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  men  to  the  ISTorthfield  conference 
indicates  not  only  the  matured  fruits  of  the 
Association  work  but  is  also  proof  of  the  new 
spiritual  life  of  the  college. 

The  object  and  spirit  of  this  marvelously 
interesting  modern  enterprise  to  reach  with 
Christian  influences  the  students  of  the  land 
is  well  defined  in  the  declaration  of  its  lead- 
ing promoters  :  "  The  immediate  object  of  the 
movement  is  to  organize  and  to  develop  strong 


The  Churches'  Equipment         259 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  all 
JSTorth  American  institutions  of  higher  learn- 
ing in  which  there  are  young  men.  This 
purpose,  however,  is  regarded  as  but  a  means 
to  the  following  ends :  to  lead  students  to 
become  intelligent  and  loyal  disciples  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord ;  to  help 
them  in  the  battle  with  the  many  and  subtle 
temptations  of  student  life  ;  to  build  up  strong 
Christian  faith  and  symmetrical  Christian 
character ;  to  train  students  in  individual  and 
associated  Christian  work  in  order  that  they 
may  be  most  useful  in  the  church ;  to  place 
upon  them  a  burden  of  responsibility  for  the 
extension  and  upbuilding  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  throughout  the  world,  and  to  influence 
them  to  place  their  lives  where  they  can  best 
serve  their  generation. 

The  Northfield  conferences  suggest  another 
phenomenal  movement  among  the  students. 
The  natural  ingathering  from  the  seed-sowing 
by  men  like  Brainerd  and  Mills  in  the  Student 
Yolunteer  Movement,  called  into  being  in  1886 
for  the  primary  purpose  of  providing  a 
sufficient  number  of  capable  missionary  candi- 
dates to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  various 
boards,  has  grown  to  such  proportions  that  it 
now  promises  the  men,  and  then  challenges 
the  churches  to  furnish  the  means  to  send 
them  into  the  most  needy  fields.     But  another 


26o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

object,  hardly  secondary  to  that  just  stated,  is 
the  development  among  students  who  are  to 
spend  then*  lives  in  Christian  lands,  either  as 
pastors  or  as  laymen,  of  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  sustain  and  enforce  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary enterprise  by  intelligent  s}^!!  pa  thy, 
by  gifts  of  money,  by  prayer,  and  by  aggres- 
sive effort  on  behalf  of  the  world's  evangeli- 
zation. The  work  of  the  movement  through 
visitation,  summer  conferences  and  correspond- 
ence has  touched,  nearly,  if  not  quite,  eight 
hundred  institutions.  Traveling  secretaries,  a 
choice  literature,  a  well-defined  educational 
work  has  brought  the  missionary  object  before 
the  students  of  all  the  large  institutions  of  the 
country.  The  result  is  that  hardly  a  student 
leaves  college  to-day  ignorant  of  the  spiritual 
needs  of  the  world.  Already  about  two 
thousand  of  these  volunteers  are  at  work  in 
mission  fields.  The  students  in  educational 
institutions  in  1902  raised  more  than  $40,000 
for  mission  purposes,  increasing  the  contri- 
bution to  $61,000  in  1903.  Thousands  of 
students,  filled  with  the  missionary  spirit  as 
laymen  and  ministers,  are  working  in  sym- 
pathetic accord  with  this  great  movement.  It 
certainly  would  appear  that,  for  some  reason, 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  college  is  more  intense 
than  that  of  the  churches.  It  is  a  reversal  of 
the  natural   order   when   the  young  disciple 


The  Churches'  Equipment         261 

challenges  the  Church  to  match  with  money 
his  devotion  of  life.  The  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  is  a  fact  which  ought  to  make 
pessimism  impossible  among  religious  leaders. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in 
the  past  decade  has  made  an  inestimable  con- 
tribution to  the  cause  of  Christian  education, 
furnishing  in  many  a  community  a  practical 
university  for  the  common  people.  Unable  to 
bestow  degrees,  it  has  provided  the  opportunity 
and  means  by  which  a  vast  number  of  young 
men  are  intelligently  qualified  themselves  to 
win  the  choice  prizes  in  the  competitions  of 
life.  Indissolubly  associated  with  the  mental 
and  the  manual  training  is  the  character  prep- 
aration which  is  admirably  fitting  these  young 
men  for  Christian  leadership.  Thousands  of 
young  men,  availing  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  the  Association,  have 
gained  the  right  to  the  name  and  must  be  in- 
cluded in  the  ranks  of  educated  men.  The 
success  in  life  and  the  practical  spirituality  of 
the  majority  of  these  Association  men  add  no 
little  weight  to  the  conclusions  already  reached 
concerning  the  hold  of  the  church  on  edu- 
cated men.  There  were  30,600  men  thus 
enrolled  in  1903  in  the  educational  classes  of 
the  Associations. 

From  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  so   imperfectly  treated   for 


262      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

lack  of  space,  we  turn  to  the  second  form  of 
special  work  for  men.  It  would  be  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate  in  an  age  when  the  fraternal 
spirit  is  so  much  in  evidence,  if  the  churches 
failed  to  make  use  of  it  in  the  propagation  of 
the  mission  of  Christ  in  the  world.  It  is  be- 
yond understanding  why  the  churches  so 
slowly  recognized  the  clannish  or  fraternal 
spirit  of  men.  With  society  overcrowded  with 
secret  orders,  it  was  singular  that  the  churches, 
while  almost  overorganized  with  societies  for 
the  women,  did  almost  nothing  for  the  men. 
The  wonder  is  that  the  churches  have  as  many 
loyal  supporters  among  the  men  now  as  they 
do.  This  clannish  spirit  is  constitutional  or 
instinctive  with  men  and  peculiar  to  them. 
The  fraternal  bond  may  be  utilized  within  as 
well  as  outside  the  churches.  Here  is  a 
natural  force  of  great  potency  which  the 
churches  have  almost  disregarded  till  within 
a  score  of  years.  Kecently  the  discovery  has 
been  made  that  the  men  of  the  local  church 
may  be  affiliated  greatly  to  the  advantage  of 
all  interested  in  religious  matters. 

In  the  progress  of  the  kingdom,  no  one 
thing  in  recent  years  is  more  conspicuous  than 
the  aroused  conscience,  the  increased  interest, 
and  the  splendid  activity  of  the  young  men  in 
Christian  service.  The  tide  has  surety  turned, 
and  the  future  is  bright  with   hope.     There 


The  Churches'  Equipment  263 

have  been  a  few  exceedingly  interesting  at- 
tempts at  organization  of  the  men  in  the 
churches,  recorded  here  and  there  in  the  old 
church  manuals  and  histories.  But  they  were 
nearly  all  of  brief  existence  and  of  local  im- 
portance. In  1851  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  took  root 
in  American  soil  and  gradually  extended  its 
influence  to  all  the  large  cities  of  the  land. 
And  yet  it  was  nearly  twenty-five  years  after 
the  establishment  of  the  Association  before 
any  one  began  seriously  to  consider  special 
work  for  men  within  the  local  church.  The 
pioneer  in  this  kind  of  work  was  James  L. 
Houghteling,  who  organized  in  St.  James 
Church,  Chicago,  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  1883, 
the  charter  chapter  of  the  Brotherhood  of  St. 
Andrew.  Inasmuch  as  the  organization  was 
strictly  denominational  and  largely  restricted 
to  personal  work  at  first,  we  shall  include  its 
description  with  that  of  the  larger  and  some- 
what similar  organization  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Andrew  and  Philip.  To  the  ordinary 
reader  it  will  hardly  seem  possible  that  a  score 
of  years  ago  there  was  almost  nothing  being 
done  in  special  work  for  men.  Of  course  we 
do  not  overlook  the  regular  work  of  the 
churches,  the  oversight  of  the  pastors  and  the 
influence  of  other  organizations.  We  simply 
refer  to  the  fact  that,  while  there  were 
numerous  special  organizations  for  the  women, 


264      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

there  were  none  for  the  men  in  the  ordinary 
church. 

The  next  great  leader  in  special  work  for 
young  men  was  Eev.  Eufus  W.  Miller,  D.  D., 
who  in  1888  organized  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  in  Read- 
ing, Pennsylvania.  Similar  in  some  respects 
to  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew,  it  incor- 
porated many  new  and  original  methods 
pertaining  to  Christian  work  among  men. 
This  order  is  now  found  in  nearly  all  the 
large  denominations,  has  a  strong  interde- 
nominational organization,  issues  the  Brother- 
hood Star^  a  monthly  magazine  devoted 
entirely  to  Christian  work  among  men  in 
the  local  church,  and  has  been  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  churches.  Through  this  organiza- 
tion and  the  writings  of  its  strong  supporters, 
probably  more  influence  has  been  exerted  to 
arouse  the  churches  to  their  opportunities  and 
responsibilities  respecting  young  men  than 
by  any  other  one  source.  More  interested 
in  advancing  the  cause  of  Christ  among  men 
than  in  the  success  of  any  movement,  these 
two  Brotherhoods  have  succeeded  in  agitating 
the  matter,  in  educating  the  churches,  till  to- 
day there  are  but  few  without  some  special 
organization  of  the  men.  The  Brotherhood 
stands  for  personal  work  characterized  by  the 
two  disciples  whose  names  it  bears.     Yet  it  is 


The  Churches'  Equipment         265 

so  flexible  that  it  may  be  easily  adapted  to 
any  and  every  need  of  the  local  church.     The 
order  points  with  great  satisfaction  to  certain 
fruits    of    its    endeavor.     It    has   invariably, 
under  favorable  circumstances,  been  remark- 
ably successful  in  developing  efficient  Chris- 
tian workers,  proving  itself  a  training-school 
in   Christian   service.     It   has   generally   fur- 
nished the  pastor  a  most  loyal  body-guard  of 
the  choicest  young  men  of  the  church,  ready 
and   willing   to   render   first-class   service   on 
short    notice.     It    has    also    been    unusually 
serviceable  in  increasing  the  church-member- 
ship.    Dr.  Wilbur  Chapman  gave  this   testi- 
mony of  his  chapter  of  the  Brotherhood  in 
Bethany  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania : 
"  In  a  pastorate  of  two  years  nearly  one  thou- 
sand have  been  added  to  the  church.     Of  this 
number  one-half  are  men,  and  of  these  men 
fully  nine-tenths  are  to  be  attributed  to  the 
work    of    the    Brotherhood."      Inasmuch    as 
these   are   the   results   which  earnest  pastors 
and  churches  most  desire,  we  commend   the 
Brotherhood   to  those  who  are  looking  espe- 
cially for  spiritual  returns. 

The  Methodists,  like  the  Episcopalians,  have 
organized  the  work  among  men  in  their 
churches  along  denominational  lines.  Be- 
ginning about  a  decade  ago,  the  increase  of 
men's    organizations   in   the   Methodist  com- 


266      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

munioii  has  been  most  rapid.  The  Brother- 
hood  type  of  organization  was  from  the  start 
the  most  popular  and  most  in  keeping  with 
the  evangelistic  spirit  of  the  church.  The 
Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  the 
Brotherhood  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  Wesley  and 
Mizpah  Brotherhoods  each  sought  the  right 
of  way.  Representatives  of  these  and  other 
men's  organizations  met  in  convention  at 
Philadelphia  in  1898  and  agreed  to  combine 
in  a  common  brotherhood  for  the  whole  de- 
nomination under  the  title,  The  Brotherhood 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  con- 
vention of  1903  renamed  the  organization  so 
that  the  title  now  stands :  The  Wesley 
Brotherhood — The  Brotherhood  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  Dr.  Thomas  B. 
Neely  of  ISTew  York  City  is  the  originator  of 
The  Wesley  Brotherhood  and  the  efficient 
leader  of  this  denominational  work. 

The  Westley  Brotherhood  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  of  more  recent  organization, 
has  the  heartiest  endorsement  of  the  Church 
leaders  and  is  making  a  rapid  and  permanent 
growth. 

These  various  brotherhoods  are  all  alike  in  the 
splendid  emphasis  which  they  place  upon  the 
distinctly  spiritual  purpose,  the  definite  per- 
sonal work,  and  the  apostolic  training  for 
Christian  service.     In  the  very  nature  of  the 


The  Churches'  Equipment         267 

case  these  orders  require  for  the  most  satisfac- 
tory results  a  full-hearted  consecration  and  a 
hi(i:h  deo-ree  of  service.  There  are  not  less  than 
fifty  thousand  men  thus  banded  together  in  these 
various  brotherhoods  in  this  country. 

In  describing  one  type  of  organization  refer- 
ence is  indirectly  made  to  much  which  is  com- 
mon to  all  the  best  attempts  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  the  Church  and  the  men.  The  differ- 
ence between  these  organizations  is  largely  one 
of  emphasis  upon  the  differing  phases  of  the 
work.  Centering  about  the  Bible  Class  and 
Bible  stud}^  is  another  large  group  of  associated 
organizations  of  Christian  men.  Of  these  the 
most  successful  is  the  Baraca  Bible  Class. 
Founded  by  Mr.  M.  A.  Hudson,  in  Syracuse,  in 
1890,  it  has  enjoyed  a  phenomenal  growth  and 
now  numbers  more  than  60,000  men.  It  is 
found  in  nearly  every  denomination  and  has 
rendered  a  most  notable  service  to  the  Church. 
Through  its  ministry  thousands  of  young  men 
have  been  won  to  Christ  and  to  successful  serv- 
ice in  his  name.  This  society  possesses  great 
possibilities  and  is  a  blessing  and  a  power  in 
any  church.  Under  various  names  a  similar 
work  is  conducted  in  a  large  number  of 
churches.  Keference  should  be  made  to  the 
Ailing  Classes  of  Kochester,  and  to  Chicago's 
Presbyterian  Young  Men's  Classes,  both  of 
which  have  won  notable  successes.     Any  or- 


268      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

ganization  placing  so  much  emphasis  upon 
Bible  study,  the  church  service,  and  definite 
religious  effort  is  perfectly  safe,  presents  ob- 
vious advantages  and  at  the  same  time  certain 
limitations  when  the  men  of  all  ages  and 
conditions  in  the  Church  are  considered.  The 
Baptist  churches  have  been  conspicuously  suc- 
cessful in  this  form  of  Christian  activity  among 
their  men. 

This  Bible  Class  movement,  like  the  Brother- 
hood idea,  fails  to  meet  the  need  in  every 
church,  sometimes  because  of  the  paucity  of 
earnest  Christians  interested  in  Bible  study 
and  personal  work,  and  also  from  the  failure  to 
enlist  all  the  men  identified  with  the  Church. 
There  has  consequently  arisen  another  large 
and  important  group  of  organizations. 

The  w^ork  of  the  Church  for  men  may  be  like- 
ened  to  an  ellipse  with  two  foci.  The  ellip- 
tical foci  are  high-class  religious  service  for  the 
few  in  a  small  fraternity  or  the  lower  religious 
standards  in  an  organization  which  shall  in- 
clude the  many.  While  it  would  seem  an  easy 
matter  to  wed  quality  and  quantity  and  to 
make  the  ellipse  a  circle  with  a  single  focus  or 
center,  this  ideal  has  seldom  been  reached,  but 
is  sure  to  come.  Those  organizations  designed 
to  include  all  the  men  of  the  Church,  place 
greater  emphasis  upon  the  fraternal  and  social 
features.     Some  take  charge  of   the   Sunday 


The  Churches'  Equipment         269 

evening  service,  and  provide  music  and  speak- 
ers. E"early  all  the  men's  organizations  have 
at  least  monthly  meetings,  occasional  banquets, 
and  special  religious  services.  In  many 
churches  there  has  been  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  males  attending  divine  worship,  in 
the  financial  support,  and  in  church-member- 
ship. There  are  plenty  of  organizations  and 
therefore  no  excuse  for  the  church  or  pastor 
disregarding  this  important  phase  of  Christian 
service.  One  of  the  most  successful  and  vigor- 
ous organizations  of  the  more  liberal  form  is 
the  Pilgrim  Fraternity,  of  the  Pilgrim  Congre- 
gational Church,  Dorchester,  Massachusetts. 
Dr.  W.  H.  All  bright,  founder  of  the  society, 
introduced  the  insurance  benefit  idea.  This 
feature  has  proven  particularly  attractive,  and 
after  a  ten  years'  trial  has  more  than  met  the 
expectations  of  its  promoters. 

In  1903  was  formed  The  Interdenominational 
Federation  of  Men's  Organizations  of  New 
England.  There  are  probably  not  less  than 
fifty  thousand  men  identified  with  the  various 
men's  organizations  connected  with  the  evan- 
gelical churches  of  New  England  alone — a 
mighty  force  for  the  advancement  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  if  rightly  and  wisely  directed. 

Within  a  decade  and  a  half  there  has  been  a 
most  phenomenal  development  of  catechetical 
instruction.     Before  the  writer  are  a  score  of 


270      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

manuals  for  such  instruction  which  have  ap- 
peared from  one  denomination  in  the  last  few- 
years.  This  subject  is  receiving  the  most  seri- 
ous attention  of  the  religious  leaders.  "  In  re- 
gard to  anything  that  grows,"  said  Horace 
Mann,  with  the  instinct  of  the  great  educator 
that  he  was,  "  one  right  forifner  will  accom- 
plish more  than  a  thousand  reformers."  The 
leaders  of  religious  thought  and  the  makers  of 
public  opinion  are  beginning  to  realize  the  deep 
and  fundamental  significance  of  the  correct 
formatories  of  character.  Spasms  of  reform- 
atory agitation  are  proving  increasingly  ineffi- 
cacious and  unsatisfactory.  The  slower  but 
surer  program  which  relies  upon  foundations 
and  formatories  of  spiritual  manhood  now  claim 
the  chief  attention  of  the  ablest  and  truest  re- 
formers. The  Church  is  determined  to  train  a 
new  generation  of  staunch  and  stalwart  Chris- 
tians. It  is  not  our  purpose  to  treat  at  length 
this  renaissance  of  catechetical  instruction  but 
we  wish  to  register  our  conviction  that  it  is  one 
of  the  most  auspicious  signs  of  the  better  day 
that  is  coming. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  Church  begins  the  train- 
ing of  her  children  in  the  masterly  way  in 
which  many  are  doing  it  to-day,  the  character 
of  the  Church  for  to-morrow  will  be  assured. 
Painstaking  instruction  with  the  boys  and  the 
girls  will  greatly  advance  the  work  of  Christ 


The  Churches'  Equipment         271 

in  the  world,  for  by  this  effort  the  Church 
touches  the  human  life  at  the  period  of  greatest 
religious  susceptibility.  This  catechetical  in- 
struction novv  begun  in  a  few  churches  will  soon 
be  an  integral  part  of  the  work  of  every  well- 
regulated  church. 

In  this  connection  reference  should  be  made 
to  a  remarkable  literature  on  the  religious  ex- 
periences of  childhood  and  youth.  From  a 
long  list  we  name  but  four : — "  The  Point  of 
Contact  in  Teaching,"  Patterson  DuBois; 
"The  Spiritual  Life,"  Prof.  George  A.  Coe, 
Ph.  D. ;  "  The  Psychology  of  Keligion,"  Prof. 
E.  D.  Starbuck;  "The  Boy  Problem,"  Dr. 
William  B.  Forbush.  These  books  throw  a 
mass  of  light  on  the  religious  training  of  chil- 
dren and  youth.  These  and  similar  works  in- 
dicate the  earnest  and  scholarly  character  of 
the  treatment  these  vital  issues  of  the  Church 
are  receiving.  Dr.  Forbush,  agitator,  edu- 
cator and  organizer,  all  in  one,  has  successfully 
focused  the  attention  of  the  churches  upon  the 
perils  and  possibilities  of  boyhood.  Dr. 
Luther  Gulick,  of  Brooklyn,  has  also  made 
valuable  contribution  to  the  same  study.  The 
last  named  writer  in  a  series  of  articles  on 
"  Sex  and  Peligion,"  now  unfortunately  out  of 
print,  and  Professor  Coe  on  the  "  Eternally 
Feminine  "  have  opened  in  the  Church  the  dis- 
cussion on  a  most  important  subject.     No  one 


272      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

doubts  that  the  gospel  is  sufficiently  broad  to 
meet  the  needs  of  every  human  being,  but  it 
is  unquestionably  true  that  those  phases  which 
would  make  the  most  persuasive  appeal  to 
man  have  been  under-emphasized.  Great  re- 
sults may  be  expected  from  the  further  study 
of  this  interesting  subject.  It  is  another  aus- 
picious sign  of  the  Church's  intelligent  grasp 
of  the  great  problems  before  it. 

For  a  long  time  it  has  been  growing  evi- 
dent that  the  child  of  to-day  was  not  receiving 
the  proper  ethical  and  religious  instruction. 
There  are  three  great  institutions  which  have  to 
do  with  the  child — the  home,  the  public  school 
and  the  Church.  Through  the  lack  of  coordi- 
nation there  has  been  an  appreciable  loss  in 
ethical  force  and  spiritual  stamina.  The  need 
has  not  been  fully  recognized,  but  a  unique 
organization  has  been  recently  formed  to  con- 
sider this  problem  in  all  its  bearings.  The 
character  of  the  distinguished  men  at  the 
head  of  the  organization  and  the  enrolment 
of  many  hundreds  of  the  most  prominent  re- 
ligious leaders  in  the  land  as  members  gives 
warrant  for  great  expectations  for  the  future 
welfare  of  the  Church  from  the  Keligious 
Education  Association. 

That  many  other  signs  equally  hopeful 
might  be  mentioned  is  most  obvious.  The 
older  organizations  of  the  churches  have  not 


The  Churches'  Equipment         273 

lost  their  power  but  are  rather  increasing  it. 
We  have  only  selected  those  which  especially 
affect  the  relation  of  the  churches  to  men,  and 
are  of  recent  origin.  The  churches  are  be- 
coming well  equipped  for  their  work,  never 
more  so,  and  they  are  perfecting  their  equip- 
ment with  unusual  intelligence.  The  churches 
have  awakened  to  the  painful  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  getting  out  of  touch 
with  those  whom  they  most  wished  to  reach. 
With  a  surprising  adaptability  they  are  just 
now  directing  the  power  of  Christianity  defi- 
nitely to  the  human  need.  In  the  diagnosis 
of  the  conditions  of  the  churches,  we  find  much 
of  disease  but  more  of  strong  vitality  which 
has  only  to  be  quickened  and  revivified  to 
bring  about  restoration  of  health.  All  things 
being  taken  into  consideration,  Christianity 
was  never  so  vigorous  and  full  of  power  as  to- 
day. The  churches  have  made  a  steady  ad- 
vance for  more  than  a  century  in  reaching 
educated  men,  and  we  believe  that  the  indica- 
tions surely  point  not  only  to  a  continuation 
of  this  wholesome  progress,  but  to  a  sure  in- 
crease in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the 
Church's  efficiency  in  winning  and  holding 
the  most  intellectual  men. 


THE  SUMMAEY 


"  Whatever  view  we  may  take  of  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  other  spheres  of  life,  it  is  undeniable  that  among 
sttidents  its  power  is  immensely  increasing  ;  and  there  it  is 
laying  hold  of  society  and  of  human  influence  at  its  springs. 
We  may  view  the  future  with  equanimity  as  we  watch  this 
clean,  straight-seeing,  fearless  host  coming  up,  wave  upon 
wave,  unceasingly  and  with  gathering  momentum,  from  our 
schools  and  colleges  and  universities,  and  spreading  out  over 
the  world."— jRo6er<  E.  Speer,  in  The  Outlook,  June  28,  1902. 

' '  The  colleges  and  universities  constitute,  without  doubt, 
the  most  religious  communities  in  our  country.  Taking 
the  young  men  of  America  as  a  whole,  not  more  than  one  in 
twelve  are  members  of  evangelical  churches.  Some  have 
placed  the  proportion  as  low  as  one  in  twenty.  Among  the 
students,  however,  nearly  one-half  of  the  young  men  are 
members  of  evangelical  churches. ' ' — John  R.  Mott,  The  Sun- 
aay  School  Times,  July  19,  1901. 

"The  observing  world  catches  sight  of  the  scum  which 
floats  on  the  surface  of  college  life,  and  calls  it  unclean  :  but 
thb  nearer  one  gets  to  the  mass  of  student  life  to-day,  the 
suter  he  grows  that  the  heart  of  it  is  sound.  He  does  not 
pine  for  the  good  old  times,  for  he  sees  the  assurance  of  a 
much  manlier  morality  in  the  tendencies  and  standards 
which  prevail  among  us  now. ' ' — Sermon  preached  by  Francis 
G.  Peabody  at  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  Harvard  College. 


CHAPTEK  XIII 
THE  SUMMARY 

In  summarizing  the  results  of  this  study  it 
may  be  wise  to  restate  the  problem  considered 
and  the  means  and  methods  employed  in  its 
solution.  The  charge  is  frequently  made  that 
the  churches  are  losing  their  hold  on  educated 
men.  It  is  said  that  the  drift  of  the  more  in- 
tellectual is  away  from  the  churches ;  that 
the  makers  and  leaders  of  public  opinion  are 
not  identified  with  them  as  formerly,  and  are 
growing  more  and  more  indifferent  to  religious 
matters.  The  charge  is  variously  stated,  but 
essentially  includes  three  implications  or  in- 
dictments :  first,  that  the  churches  to-day  are 
making  a  conspicuous  failure  in  reaching  men 
of  commanding  influence;  second,  that  there 
has  been  a  notable  declension  in  religion 
among  intellectual  leaders  from  the  "  good  old 
times  "  of  the  past ;  and  third,  that  these  con- 
ditions are  becoming  increasingly  unfavorable, 
and  that  the  outlook  for  the  future  is  most 
discouraging. 

These  charges,  so  persistently  and  emphat- 
ically reiterated  by  voice  and  pen,  and  causing 
so  much  alarm  and  anxiety,  remind  one  of  the 
277 


278      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

prayer  of  a  certain  devout,  Yirginian.  The 
old  colored  man,  riding  his  mule,  was  caught 
in  a  violent  thunder-storm  vv^hile  passing 
through  a  dense  forest.  Being  unable  to  make 
any  headway  except  through  the  aid  of  the 
fitful  flashes  of  lightning  which  occasionally 
revealed  his  surroundings,  and  greatly  alarmed 
at  the  loud  and  terrible  peals  of  thunder 
which  shook  the  earth  and  reverberated  over 
his  head,  he  at  last  appealed  to  the  throne  of 
grace  in  this  wise  :  "  O  Lawd,  if  it 's  just  the 
same  to  you,  I  'd  rather  hev  a  little  less  noise 
an'  a  little  more  light."  There  has  been  vastly 
more  noise  than  light  respecting  the  subject 
under  consideration.  Singularly  enough,  many 
who  ought  to  be  torch-bearing  guides  in  the 
darkness,  have  darkened  counsel  with  surpris- 
ing inaccuracies,  false  statements,  unwarrant- 
able inferences  and  a  pessimism  most  detri- 
mental to  the  highest  interests  of  the  churches. 
There  is  cause  enough  for  deep  solicitude  when 
the  truth  of  the  matter  is  known,  even  though 
it  is  in  nowise  so  bad  as  many  w^ould  represent 
it.  Well  might  we  reverently  pray  for  light — 
for  divine  illumination  and  the  light  of  truth 
and  fact  which  shall  reveal  the  conditions  as 
they  actually  are. 

An  unsuccessful  search  in  the  best  libraries 
for  the  scholarly  treatment  of  this  problem 
led  to  the  present  investigation.     Franklin-like 


The  Summary  279 

we  determined  to  discover,  classify  and  then 
to  weigh  the  facts.  This  study  was  thus  be- 
gun and  has  been  continued,  not  to  sustain  a 
theory,  but  as  the  honest  quest  for  the  truth. 
At  the  outset  apparently  unsurmountable  diffi- 
culties obstructed  the  investigation.  It  is  no 
easy  matter  to  determine  "  who 's  who  "  in  the 
intellectual  world.  Though  it  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  task  to  select  a  few  thousand 
recognized  leaders  of  affairs,  our  problem  in- 
cludes a  vastly  larger  number.  And  even  if 
the  boundaries  were  well  defined,  it  would  be 
an  endless  task  to  tabulate  satisfactorily  the 
religious  sentiments  of  those  included.  Early 
in  the  investigation  it  was  discovered,  how- 
ever, that  more  than  half  of  those  who  have 
won  conspicuous  success  and  are  recognized  as 
intellectual  leaders  of  the  first  order,  are  col- 
lege graduates. 

It  was  further  found  that  in  the  various 
periods  of  American  history  the  college 
man  not  only  represented  the  dominant  type 
of  religious  thought  and  life,  but  was  also 
their  most  satisfactory  exponent  and  expres- 
sion. Here,  then,  was  a  group  of  men  actually 
furnishing  a  large  proportion  of  the  intellec- 
tual leaders,  and  recognized  by  all  as  the  best 
all-round  representative  of  the  whole  class, 
whose  religious  views  are  a  matter  of  historic 
study  and  observation. 


28o      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

The  data  from  the  investigation  of  the  col- 
lege man's  religion  in  different  periods  of 
American  history  show  the  trend  of  religious 
thought  and  life,  and  furnish  the  basis  for  a 
satisfactory  conclusion  respecting  the  hold  of 
the  churches  on  the  men  of  brains.  The  col- 
lege man's  influence  has  been  carefully  con- 
sidered in  Chapter  XI,  and  if  its  appraisal 
therein  made  be  reasonably  accurate,  then 
surely  he  exerts  a  most  potent  influence  and  a 
power  all  out  of  proportion  to  his  numerical 
strength.  In  the  historical  study  it  has  been 
noted  that  in  every  single  instance  the  charac- 
teristic fluctuations  of  religious  life  in  the  col- 
lege correspond  with  similar  fluctuations 
among  men  outside,  with  this  distinction,  how- 
ever, that  the  religious  tone  of  the  college  is 
invariably  a  little  higher.  When  infidelity 
held  sway  among  the  students,  one  hundred 
years  ago,  it  was  also  evident  everywhere 
among  thinking  men,  but  in  the  colleges  it  be- 
came less  gross  and  licentious.  In  the  era  of 
revivals  the  colleges  were  blessed  more  abun- 
dantly than  the  churches.  And  in  the  modern 
period  missionary  enthusiasm  reaches  its  high- 
est expression  in  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment. In  a  graphic  representation  of  the  re- 
ligious life  among  men  both  in  college  and 
outside  we  are  convinced  that  the  two  lines  in 
their   undulatory  fluctuations,  indicating   the 


The  Summary  281 

rise  and  fall  of  religious  interest,  would  very 
closely  correspond.  These  lines  would  rarely 
cross  one  another  or  merge  in  each  other  for 
two  reasons :  first,  because  the  college  line 
would  be  invariably  a  little  higher,  and  second, 
because  the  changes  small  as  well  as  great 
would  be  noted  first,  or  anticipated  in  the  col- 
lege line.  While  it  is  not  claimed  that  every 
fluctuation  of  religious  sentiment  in  college  is 
duplicated  in  the  world  outside,  or  vice  versa, 
the  similarity  between  the  two  is  very  remark- 
able and  adds  much  force  to  the  proposition 
that  the  college  man  is  the  fair  representative 
of  the  men  of  intellect. 

We  have  pointed  out  the  great  changes 
wrought  in  religious  thought  by  momentous 
political  issues  culminating  in  warfare  and 
national  development,  by  the  enormous  immi- 
gration of  those  largely  ignorant  of  or  antag- 
onistic to  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  and  by  an 
industrial  revolution  which  has  transformed 
the  commercial  life  of  the  nation.  Then,  too, 
the  present  heterogeneous  character  of  the 
population,  the  massing  of  multitudes  in  the 
great  cities,  and  the  climatic,  territorial,  racial, 
denominational  diversities  of  a  nation  of  such 
growing  magnitude  and  increasing  power  have 
all  most  seriously  complicated  this  difficult 
problem.  The  college,  which  was  once  almost 
inseparably  connected   with  the  community 


282      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

life,  has,  in  later  years,  by  the  marvelous  ac- 
cumulation of  funds,  increase  of  students  and 
new  demands,  become  a  community  of  itself. 
The  differentiation  in  educational  work,  with 
the  separation  of  the  theological,  scientific 
and  aesthetic  departments,  has  produced  most 
decided  changes  in  the  curricula  of  instruction. 
Form  counts  for  less  and  reality  for  far  more 
in  the  religious  thought  of  the  most  intellec- 
tual. Notwithstanding  these  radical  changes 
which  affect  life  so  powerfully  there  has  been 
a  most  surprising  and  encouraging  uniformity 
and  progress  in  the  religious  concerns  of  the 
colleges  of  the  land. 

There  has  been  a  most  decided  advance  in 
physical  culture  within  the  past  fifty  years — 
a  change  so  radical  that  it  is  not  easily  under- 
stood. Dyspeptic  and  anemic  conditions  no 
longer  characteristically  mark  the  educated 
man.  The  athletic  qualities  have  taken  their 
place  to  the  great  advantage  of  all.  Granted 
that  too  much  emphasis  is  placed  upon  college 
athletics,  that  professionalism  imperils  college 
sports,  that  studies  are  interrupted,  gambling 
increased  and  pugnacity  developed,  neverthe- 
less physical  culture,  the  medical  director  and 
the  gymnasium  are  accomplishing  a  world  of 
good  for  the  student  of  to-day  and  the  intel- 
lectual leader  of  to-morrow.  It  is  no  longer 
questioned  that  a  strong  physique  is  w^U-nigh 


The  Summary  283 

essential  to  success  in  this  strenuous,  exacting 
age.  The  physical  and  ethical  principles  over- 
lap. Sound  health  is  an  immunity  against 
many  temptations.  Team-work  in  college 
develops  courage,  endurance,  perseverance, 
patience  and  fraternity.  Athletic  training  en- 
forces the  ethical  principles  of  temperance  and 
self-mastery.  The  English  collegian  thus  sums 
up  the  matter  in  respect  to  drink.  Grace  says, 
"I  abstain  from  alcoholic  drinks  because  I 
would  excel  as  a  cricketer ; "  as  a  walker,  Wes- 
ton says,  "  Abstain  ;  "  as  an  oarsman,  Hanlon 
says,  "  Abstain ; "  as  a  swimmer,  Webb  says, 
^'  Abstain ; "  as  a  missionary,  Livingstone  says, 
"  Abstain ; "  as  a  doctor,  Clark  says,  "  Ab- 
stain;" as  a  preacher,  Farrar  says,  "Abstain." 
Asylums,  prisons  and  workhouses  repeat  the 
cry  of  "  Abstain."  This  physical  training  has 
wrought  immeasurable  benefit  to  students  ad- 
dicted to  secret  and  sexual  vices  while  it  has 
given  a  healthier  tone  to  mental,  ethical  and 
religious  life. 

That  mental  culture  has  made  surprising 
progress  is  apparent  to  every  one  who  takes 
the  trouble  to  consider  the  matter.  The  grad- 
uate of  the  college  of  the  eighteenth  century 
would  find  some  difficulty  in  passing  the  en- 
trance examinations  to  the  Harvard  of  to-day. 
It  is  said  that  the  professor  of  botany  who 
first  introduced  the  study  of  plants  and  flowers 


284      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

in  the  classroom,  received  a  sharp  reprimand 
from  the  college  authorities  because  he  diverted 
the  minds  of  the  students  from  the  serious 
work  of  the  classroom  to  the  unimportant  con- 
sideration of  flowers.  The  methods  of  study 
have  been  revolutionized  in  many  respects, 
particularly  so  concerning  the  sciences,  his- 
tory, literature  and  the  arts.  The  student  is 
early  taught  to  be  an  investigator,  an  inde- 
pendent thinker  and  a  keen-eyed  observer. 
He  becomes  thus  an  animated  interrogation, 
less  given  to  submissive  acquiescence,  to  ready- 
made  creeds  and  theories,  more  inclined  to 
unhesitating  championship  of  the  real  and  the 
true.  His  questioning  attitude  tends  to  skep- 
ticism and  religious  indifference,  while  his  pas- 
sion for  reality  prepares  him  for  unsurpassed 
leadership  in  religious  affairs  when  convinced 
of  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity.  In  all 
probability  there  has  been  no  time  in  many 
years  when  the  presentation  of  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  Christian  faith  met  with 
quicker  response  from  the  students  than  to-day. 
This  is  the  personal  testimony  of  men  who 
have  been  most  actively  engaged  in  Christian 
work  in  the  colleges  in  recent  years.  This 
changed  mental  attitude  may  explain  the  occa- 
sion of  religious  indifference  of  some  graduates 
in  some  churches  where  sentiment  takes  the 
place  of  sense  in  Christian  work.     Remember- 


The  Summary  285 

ing  the  words  of  the  Master,  "  And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  myself,"  we  hail  with  joy  this  change  of 
mind  respecting  truth  and  reality,  well  assured 
that  the  truths  of  Christianity  are  ample  and 
convincing  when  rightly  presented.  This,  too, 
is  a  favorable  omen  for  the  future. 

It  is  said  that  the  era  of  revivals  in  the  col- 
leges is  past,  and  forthwith  some  infer  that 
there  are  few  or  no  conversions  among  stu- 
dents now.  This  is  very  far  from  the  truth, 
for  there  were  between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand genuine  conversions  reported  in  the  col- 
leges in  1903  alone.  It  is  therefore  an  open 
question  w^hether  the  colleges  are  not  winning 
a  larger  percentage  of  their  students  to  Christ 
by  these  slower  and  surer  modern  methods 
than  was  won  by  the  old  time  periodic  revival 
with  its  attendant,  intervening  periods  of 
marked  religious  indifference.  May  it  not  be 
that  the  best  results  of  the  reviv^al  movement 
are  secured  now  through  the  saner  and  more 
permanent  appeal  of  to-day  ? 

John  K.  Mott  declares  :  '•  Taking  the  young 
men  of  JSTorth  America  as  a  whole,  not  more 
than  one  in  twelve  are  Christians,  whereas  in 
the  institutions  of  higher  learning  about  one 
in  two  of  the  young  men  are  Christians. 
Still  more  striking  is  the  fact  that  the  propor- 
tion  of   students   who  are  Christians  is  now 


286      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

larger  than  ever  before.  Two  or  three  gener- 
ations ago  even  in  colleges  with  Christian 
foundations  there  were  but  small  groups  of 
disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Not  only 
is  it  true  that  there  are  now  more  Christians 
in  the  colleges  than  in  the  preceding  genera- 
tions, but  the  number  of  students  who  are 
being  led  into  the  Christian  life  continues  to 
increase.  Some  of  the  most  fruitful  spiritual 
awakenings  in  the  history  of  educational  insti- 
tutions have  occurred  within  the  past  ten 
years  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
working  through  the  Associations.  These 
have  not  been  confined  to  the  Christian  or 
denominational  colleges.  .  .  .  When  all 
the  difficulties  are  considered  the  revivals 
which  have  taken  place  in  Western  and  South- 
ern states  and  other  great  undenominational 
universities  seemed  even  more  noteworthy 
than  those  in  Christian  institutions.  There 
are  few  state  universities  in  which  each  year 
men  are  not  led  out  of  unbelief  into  an  intel- 
ligent and  vital  faith  in  Christ.  The  assump- 
tion of  some  that  colleges  cannot  be  as  deeply 
moved  now  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  in  times  past 
is  not  supported  by  the  history  of  the  Associa- 
tion movement.  Evangelistic  meetings  are 
regarded  with  more  favor  in  the  colleges  than 
in  the  past."  ^ 

*  Students  of  North  America,  p.  19. 


The  Summary  287 

From  an  ethical  viewpoint  there  has  been  a 
decided  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the 
college  man.  Prevalent  as  intemperance  and 
licentiousness  are  to-day,  the  conditions  are 
vastly  better  than  one  hundred  years  ago. 
Then  every  one  drank.  In  the  winter  they 
drank  to  keep  warm.  In  the  summer  they 
drank  to  keep  cool.  They  drank  on  all 
occasions,  at  weddings  and  funerals,  at  barn- 
raisings  and  church  dedications.  No  social 
function  was  complete  without  liquid  enter- 
tainment. The  Church  and  the  ministry  were 
not  silent  on  the  subject :  they  vigorously  en- 
dorsed the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  If  any  one 
doubts  this,  it  may  be  easily  verified  by  even 
the  slight  perusal  of  old  church  and  ministerial 
records.  The  drunkenness  in  college  halls  in 
those  early  days  was  something  appalling. 
The  grosser  forms  of  licentiousness  were 
certainly  more  in  evidence,  as  would  naturally 
be  expected  in  consequence  of  unrestrained  in- 
temperance. Gambling  and  profanity  were 
painfully  apparent  in  the  "good  old  times." 
Sunday  study  and  Sabbath  desecration  have 
certainly  materially  changed  in  aspect,  with 
probably  more  of  the  former  and  less  of  the 
latter  than  in  most  of  the  periods  of  history 
considered. 

One  internal  change  is,  however,  so  revo- 
lutionary in  character  that  it  deserves  special 


288      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

attention.  For  the  first  one  hundred  years 
there  was  practically  no  student  initiative  in 
religious  matters.  The  college  acted  In  Loco 
Parentis  most  faithfully  and  persistently. 
The  spirit  which  led  to  the  Kevolution  in 
national  affairs  produced  extreme  restlessness 
among  the  students  and  paved  the  way  for  a 
most  interesting  and  far-reaching  student 
revolution.  The  earliest  indication  of  the  rise 
of  the  student  movement  showed  itself  in 
insubordination  to  the  authorities  and  a  con- 
flict of  interests  between  students  and  facul- 
ties. In  religious  matters,  after  the  expulsion 
of  David  Brainerd,  the  student  initiative 
wrought  largely  in  secret  as  we  have  already 
indicated.  Gradually  during  the  nineteenth 
century  it  asserted  itself,  exerting  more  and 
more  influence  till  now,  crystalized  and 
organized  under  the  various  departments  of 
the  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
and  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  it  has 
become  one  of  the  most  potent  religious  forces 
of  the  modern  college. 

Concerning  the  college  man's  religion  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  exceedingly  valuable  data.  Pre- 
served in  histories,  biographies  and  tabulated 
statistics,  in  a  form  inaccessible  to  the  ordinary 
student,  is  the  most  trustworthy  evidence  of 
the  religious  conditions  of  the  past.  After 
making  due  allowance  for  biased  opinion,  and 


The  Summary  289 

selecting  so  far  as  possible  those  witnesses  only 
whose  word  is  unquestioned  respecting  other 
matters,  we  have  presented  their  testimony, 
convinced  that  such  evidence  would  more 
definitely  help  the  searcher  after  truth  than 
any  recasting  of  the  thought  or  simple  state- 
ment of  the  fact.  It  should  also  be  said  that 
every  reputable  witness  found  has  been  invited 
to  the  witness-stand  unless  another  as  trust- 
worthy had  already  testified  to  the  same  fact. 
Had  it  been  necessary,  in  many  instances  a 
dozen  witnesses  might  have  been  summoned 
where  but  one  has  given  testimony.  To  hear 
from  all  would  have  made  this  study  inex- 
cusably long.  It  is  not  claimed  that  all  the 
material  has  been  investigated,  but  this  may 
be  said,  that  the  further  the  study  has  been 
pursued  the  more  evident  it  became  that  the 
conclusions  herein  presented  are  conservative. 
For  the  past  eighty  years  careful  statistics 
have  been  periodically  taken  of  the  number  and 
proportion  of  evangelical  church-members 
among  the  students  of  American  colleges. 
Eecognizing  the  fact  that  many  church-mem- 
bers are  Christian  in  name  only,  we  are  confi- 
dent that  the  number  is  more  than  offset  by 
those  who  are  truly  Christian,  though  not  iden- 
tified with  the  churches.  The  standards  for 
church-membership  have  changed,  but  on  the 
whole  are  as  strict,  if   not  more  so,  for  the 


290      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

whole  country  and  for  all  the  denominations, 
as  formerly.  Now  it  so  happens  that  the 
statistics,  while  of  themselves  of  great  compar- 
ative value,  are  substantiated  by  collateral  evi- 
dence. It  is  a  matter  of  some  interest  that  the 
results  which  were  obtained  from  the  study  of 
the  collateral  sources  in  this  investigation,  were 
made  first  and  before  the  statistics  were  con- 
sidered, and  that  the  two  almost  exactly  tallied. 
Hence  there  are  two  independent  sources  for 
the  information  and  facts  herein  presented.  It 
is  hardly  believed  that  many  will  care  to  ques- 
tion both. 

The  summary  in  the  statistical  form  is  more 
convenient  and  easily  remembered  and  hence 
we  use  it.  In  these  estimates  only  members  of 
evangelical  churches  have  been  considered. 
Most  of  the  available  statistics  have  been  com- 
piled on  this  basis,  hence  we  have  thus  used 
them.  Such  a  restricted  compilation  debars 
many  who  otherwise  should  be  included  and 
were  they  numbered  would  considerably  raise 
the  percentages.  This  is  another  evidence  of 
the  conservative  character  of  these  estimates 
and  conclusions. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  our  investigation 
we  find  these  conditions  : — In  the  first  period 
undoubtedly  there  was  a  larger  proportion  of 
professing  Christians  than  to-day,  for  reasons 
already  explained;  from  1775  to  1795,  about 


The  Summary  291 

twelve  per  cent ;  from  1Y95  to  1800  the  ratio 
sinks  to  one  in  twenty  or  five  per  cent,  of 
Christians  in  the  total  enrolment  of  the  under^ 
graduates.     At  the  opening  of  the  century  the 
percentage  suddenly  rises  to  fifteen  or  more  in 
1808,  sinking  again  to  ten  at  the  end  of  the  dec- 
ade.    From  1810  to  1825  the  ratio  sinks  still 
lower  to  rise  steadily  to  twenty-five  at  the  end 
of  the  first  quarter  of  a  century.     From  this 
time  on  to  1850  there  is  a  gradual  and  perma- 
nent gain  till  the  percentage  registers  thirty- 
three.     Eight  years  later,  more  than  forty  per 
cent,  of  the  students  are  Christians.     Just  be- 
fore the  war  the  percentage  reaches  forty-five 
and  then  remains  largely  unchanged  for  a  score 
of  years.     From  1885  to  1900  there  has  been  a 
slow  but  sure  gain  till  more  than  one-half  of 
the  American  students  are  professing  Chris- 
tians.    The  indications  for  the  first  years  of 
the  new  century  are  most  encouraging. 

The  statement  should  be  reiterated  that  these 
are  but  estimates  made  from  the  facts  which 
are  at  hand.  For  them  we  claim  nothing 
more  than  such  a  statement  implies.  We  have 
included  all  the  facts  which  have  come  under 
our  observation,  but  further  information  may 
change  some  of  these  estimates  and  for  them 
we  claim  no  authority  beyond  that  which  we 
have  given,  though  we  incline  to  the  opinion 
that  further  investigation  will  tend  rather  to 


292      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

lower  than  to  lift  the  percentages  herein  given 
for  the  earlier  periods. 

The  conclusions  of  this  study  are  graphically 
represented  in  the  diagram.  The  figures  at  the 
top  indicate  the  years  by  decades,  the  figures 
at  the  sides  the  percentages.  The  heavy  line 
roughly  indicates  the  ratio  or  percentage  of 
professing  Christians  in  the  total  enrolment 
of  college  students  for  the  different  decades. 

Percentage  of  Male  College  Student  Church- 
Members  hy  Decades  for  1^5  years. 


1780  1700  'BOO  1810  ISlO  iQiO  mo  18^  I860  1870  '880  1690  1900 


^ 

/ 

,^~^ 

/ 

/ 

-^ 

_^ 

y-— V. 

/ 

r 

r"^ 

Oo 

80 
70 
60 

40 

JO 

! 
20 

'0 


A  glance  at  the  diagram  will  show  that  for 
the  first  four  decades,  from  1 Y80  to  1820,  the  per- 
centage is  exceedingly  low,  with  an  average  of 


The  Summary  293 

hardly  more  than  ten  per  cent.  Just  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
centary  the  percentage  must  have  dropped 
down  to  nearly  five.  For  the  forty  years  from 
1820  to  1860,  the  percentage  steadily  increased 
till  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  enrolment 
of  students  were  members  of  evangelical 
churches.  During  the  period  of  the  civil  war 
when  immigration  was  enormous  and  industrial 
changes  were  producing  a  revolution  in  busi- 
ness, the  percentage  scarcely  holds  its  own,  and 
even  that  itself  is  simply  remarkable,  all  things 
considered.  In  the  last  score  of  years,  in  spite 
of  radical  changes,  both  within  and  outside  of 
the  colleges,  the  percentage  has  been  not  only 
well  sustained  but  materially  increased.  The 
most  recent  data  from  the  senior  classes  of  the 
colleges  indicate  a  steady  rise  in  the  number 
of  professing  Christians,  while  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  and  other  indications 
show  that  the  quality  of  the  religious  life  has 
been  fully  maintained.  It  would  then  seem,  if 
these  figures  count  for  an3^thing,  that  the  num- 
ber of  professing  Christians  in  colleges  is  about 
five  times  as  large  as  it  was  one  hundred  years 
ago. 


294      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 


AN    ESTIMATE  OF   THE   CHRISTIANS   IN  THE 
COLLEGES 


Year 


Percentage  of  Christiana 


1785 
1795 
1799 
1800 
1810 
1820 
1825 
1850 
1875 
1900 
1904 


15  Per  cent. 

10  *' 

5  " 

8  " 

10  " 

20  '' 

25  " 

33  " 

45  " 

50  " 

53  " 


The  estimate  is  made  on  the  findings  of  this 
study  which  includes  a  careful  consideration 
of  estimates  given  by  many  others.  The 
basis  of  calculation  is  membership  in  an  evan- 
gelical church.  Those  who  would  broaden 
the  basis  to  include  members  in  the  more 
liberal  churches  have  only  to  raise  the  per- 
centage throughout,  which  would  of  course 
make  the  showing  for  the  present  all  the 
more  conspicuously  large.  And  that  in  turn 
would  just  that  much  strengthen  the  force  of 
our  argument  that  the  Christian  college  man 
is  decidedly  in  evidence  in  the  world  of  intel- 
lectual affairs. 

Dr.  Daniel  Dorchester,  the  distinguished 
scholar  and  statistician,  reaches  much  the  same 
conclusion  in  his  tabulation  : 


The  Summary  29c 

PERCENTAGE  OF  PIOUS  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  ^ 


Date  of     ^^^f;;,f       number  of        Number        Pfceniage 
^^-^-^-     4X;        Stuaentsin  Pious         ^f  ^J-^^ 

^        ^    Colleges  reporting  ^lous 


1830 

28 

2,633 

693 

26  per  cent. 

1855 

30 

4,533 

1,727 

38  -   " 

1865 

38 

7,351 

3,380 

46  ''   '' 

1870 

32 

7,818 

2,162 

40  ''   " 

1872 

12 

1,891 

941 

50  "■      " 

1880 

65 

12,063 

6,051 

50  "   '< 

1885 

110 

15,344 

7,361 

48  "   " 

These  statistics,  covering  a  smaller  list  of 
the  colleges  and  different  dates,  vary  slightly 
from  those  obtained  from  the  present  investi- 
gation, though  the  two  are  in  substantial 
agreement.  Had  the  number  of  colleges  in 
the  years  1870  and  1872  been  larger  the  per- 
centage would  have  been  reduced.  For  the 
year  1885  the  number  of  colleges  is  much 
larger,  including  nine  state  institutions,  four 
normal  schools,  two  agricultural  colleges,  and 
polytechnic,  medical  and  military  institutes, 
and  its  percentage  almost  exactly  agrees  with 
the  results  of  the  present  study. 

Trustworthy  statisticians  estimate  that  there 
are  now  five  times  as  many  college  graduates 
in  the  same  population  as  one  hundred  years 
ago.     The  ratio  is  moreover  steadily  increas- 

'  Daniel  Dorchester,   Problem   of  Religious  Progress,  p. 
475. 


296      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

ing.  We  have  already  indicated  that  for 
some  reason  the  college  man  exerts  a  unique 
influence.  This  influence  is  not  deteriorating 
but  constantly  waxing  stronger,  since  the 
collegian  not  only  holds  his  prestige  in  all  the 
literary  and  scholastic  professions,  but  has 
also  entered  many  other  pursuits,  there  like- 
wise to  win  conspicuous  success.  The  differ- 
entiation of  educational  work  furnishes  train- 
ing for  a  score  of  different  occupations. 
Graduates  from  these  institutions  take  a 
correspondingly  high  rank  in  their  avocations, 
thus  swelling  the  list  of  makers  and  leaders  of 
public  opinion  for  college  men. 

It  has  been  frequently  affirmed  that  the 
religious  status  of  the  college  man  is  fixed  for 
life  at  graduation.  This  assumption  was  once 
used  as  one  of  the  stock  arguments  against 
procrastination  in  spiritual  matters.  Though 
always  far  from  the  truth,  it  is  more  untrue 
now  than  formerly.  President  D wight  and 
many  others  have  testified  that  many  become 
interested  in  religion  after  leaving  college. 
The  unique  character  of  the  university  life 
makes  its  own  peculiar  appeal  to  the  Christian 
manhood  of  the  student.  The  sobering  effects 
of  domestic  and  commercial  life  amid  circum- 
stances so  unlike  those  of  college  days,  makes 
persuasive  and  powerful  the  new  appeal  to  the 
spiritual   life  after  graduation.     Evidence  of 


The  Summary  297 

this  is  easily  produced.  Many  religiously  in- 
different in  college  become  loyal  and  efBcient 
workers  outside.  No  inconsiderable  portion 
of  those  entering  the  ministry  make  the  choice 
of  life-work  after  graduation.  Allusion  is 
made  to  these  facts  to  meet  the  objection 
which  may  be  raised  that  many  of  the  college 
men  are  indifferent  to  the  Church  when  student 
days  are  passed.  It  is  true  some  are,  but  the 
number  is  more  than  offset  by  those  who  enter 
the  Christian  service  later  in  life. 

As  already  shown,  the  churches  are  better 
equipped  for  their  work  than  ever  before. 
Work  among  the  young  people,  and  catechet- 
ical instruction  will  provide  better  religious 
preparation  for  aspiring  students.  The  vari- 
ous men's  organizations  will  enlist  their  sympa- 
thies and  furnish  opportunity  for  the  exercise 
of  their  powers.  The  churches,  with  stronger 
emphasis  upon  practical  interests  of  every-day 
living,  good  citizenship,  and  the  great  issues 
of  the  day,  challenge  their  support,  while  pro- 
viding ample  field  for  manly  experimentation 
and  service  in  religious  matters.  The  college 
life  places  decided  emphasis  upon  social  serv- 
ice, and  the  churches  are  rapidly  undertaking 
similar  work,  and  consequently  are  preparing 
the  organized  medium  through  which  social 
service  can  best  be  rendered.  Much  of  the 
machinery  of  the  church  is  in  prime  condition 


2g8      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

for  high  service — and  were  it  not  for  a  lack  of 
the  Spirit  within  the  wheels  the  future  would 
be  bright  indeed.  But  the  volume  of  earnest 
prayer  ascending  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  a 
new  vision  of  God,  a  new  sense  of  duty,  keener 
appreciation  of  religious  privileges  and  perils, 
and  a  saner  and  more  loyal  devotion  to  the 
highest  interests  of  mankind,  is  the  promise 
of  the  coming  blessing. 

If,  as  we  have  assumed,  the  college  man  is 
in  any  way  a  fair  representative  of  the  men  of 
intellect,  then  the  charges  preferred  against 
the  churches  are  manifestly  untrue.  Certainly 
the  "  good  old  times  "  fail  to  furnish  any  data 
to  substantiate  the  charges  made,  but  instead 
present  the  evidence  of  steady  and  vigorous 
growth  in  religious  thought  and  life.  The 
fact  is  the  churches  are  reaching  and  holding 
the  men  of  intellect  better  to-day  than  for  the 
past  one  hundred  and  fifty  years ;  they  are 
not  losing  their  grip  but  are  strengthening 
their  hold.  The  future  is  not  disheartening ; 
it  presents  big  problems,  unsurpassed  opportu- 
nity and  exacting  demands.  For  such  exi- 
gencies the  churches  are  preparing,  and  if  the 
tasks  be  Herculean  we  are  training  the  giants 
to  meet  them.  The  Christian  is  not  on  the 
field  to  fail  but  to  win,  and  the  record  of  what 
has  been  done  under  more  trying  circumstances 
will  fire  the  enthusiasm,  arouse  the  energy,  and 


The  Summary  299 

deepen  the  devotion  of  the  Christian  patriot 
for  the  conquests  and  the  victories  to  come. 

A  great  Eastern  city  was  besieged  by  fierce 
enemies,  and  about  to  send  forth  its  warriors 
to  sweep  away,  as  with  a  whirlwind  rush,  the 
hosts  of  the  invader.  But  a  magician,  waving 
his  wand,  stalked  forth  from  the  enemy's 
camp,  and  by  the  occult  power  of  the  sorcer- 
er's art  transformed  citizen  and  knight  alike, 
with  all  the  people,  into  stone.  Everything 
with  life  seemed  stricken  with  death.  Mailed 
knights,  about  to  mount  their  steeds,  full  clad 
for  battle,  stood  motionless,  with  hands  upon 
the  pommel  of  the  saddle.  The  men  in  the 
ranks,  and  the  women  and  the  children,  stood 
as  if  they  were  groups  carved  in  stone — all 
motionless,  powerless,  the  prey  of  the  enemy. 
The  invaders  seemed  to  have  everything  their 
own  way.  Suddenly  there  appeared  on  the 
street  and  in  the  midst  of  the  listless  people  a 
knight  clad  in  white  and  of  radiant  counte- 
nance. In  his  hand  he  carried  a  golden 
trumpet.  In  the  midst  of  the  powerless  peo- 
ple he  lifted  his  trumpet  to  his  lips  and  one 
long  ringing  blast  sounded  out  upon  the  air. 
Mightier  than  the  arts  of  the  sorcerer  was  the 
effect  of  the  peal  from  the  trumpet  of  gold. 
The  knight  sprang  to  his  saddle,  and  gave 
the  order,"  Forward,  march."  In  response  life 
leaped  once  more  in  the  cold  veins  of  death. 


300      The  Churches  and  Educated  Men 

The  knights  on  prancing  steeds  and  the  long 
lines  of  infantry  advanced,  drove  the  invader 
from  the  city  and  caused  his  utter  overthrow. 
The  legend,  though  very  imperfectly,  yet 
forcefully,  illustrates  prevalent  conditions  in 
the  churches  of  to-day.  Materialism  and 
worldliness  have  cast  a  spell  over  the  work 
of  Christ  and  have  caused  a  partial  paralysis 
among  the  workers.  But  we  have  much  rea- 
son to  believe  it  only  temporary.  The  knights 
are  well  equipped,  the  forces  well  trained, 
there  is  something  more  potent  than  the  sor- 
cerer's art.  Indeed  the  call  to  service  from 
the  golden  trumpet  of  the  great  Commander 
of  the  hosts  of  God  has  sounded  forth,  and  the 
quickening  power  of  new  life  is  showing  it- 
self. The  leaders  have  felt  it,  the  young 
knights  have  heard  the  call,  and  are  ready 
for  the  advance.  The  churches  are  slowly 
awakening.  May  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the 
knightly  Christ  speedily  come,  receive  a  hearty 
welcome,  revivify  his  followers,  and  lead  them 
to  sure  victory. 


Ind 


ex 


Allbright,  Dr.  "William  H.,  special  work  for  men,  269. 

Ailing  Bible  Classes,  267. 

Amherst  College,  percentage  of  Christians,  1902,  199. 

Appleton,  Pres.,  102. 

Awakening,  The  Great,  Princeton  a  result  of,  22. 

Bacon,  Dr.  Leonard,  on  the  rise  of  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary, 111. 

Baptists,  relation  to  education,  159. 

Baraca  Bible  Class,  267. 

Barrows,  Dr.  John  H.,  conquests  of  Christianity,  212. 

Bashford,  Pres.  J.  W.,  public  position  of  college  men,  226. 

Beecher,  Dr.  Henry  Ward,  Lectures  to  Young  ^len,  161, 

Beecher,  Dr.  Lyman,  religious  conditions  at  Yale,  1800,  71. 

Bible  Study,  the  old  and  the  new  type,  192. 

Bisbee,  Professor,  M.  D.,  religious  conditions  at  Dartmouth, 
1799,  88. 

Blythe,  Dr.  James,  58. 

Brainerd,  David,  the  student  protest,  35;  type  of  consecra- 
tion, 162. 

Bowdoin  College,  religious  conditions,  1800,  100. 

Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  263. 

Brotherhood  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  266. 

Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew,  263. 

Brown  University,  established,  159. 

Bushnell,  Eev.  Jedediah,  81. 

Butler,  Pres.  N.  M.,  influence  of  the  College,  215. 

Clark,  Dr.  F.  E.,  252. 
Community,  relation  to  college,  113. 
Conferences  of  students,  193. 
Cressey,  Dr.  F.  G.,  229. 

Curriculum,  early  type  at  Yale,  29;  of  theological  charac- 
ter, 23. 

301 


302  Index 


Dartmouth  College,  established,  52;  in  1792,  cf.  re\dvals, 

88. 

Davis,  Dr.  EmersoD,  a  half  century  of  progress,  1850,  95. 

Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges,  inception  and  influence,  140. 

Dickinson  College,  under  iMethodist  control,  160. 

Discipline  in  college,  flogging,  25;  fining,  27;  rules  and  reg- 
ulations, Yale,  29,  30. 

Dorchester,  Dr.  Daniel,  century's  growth  of  Christianity,  67. 

Dunster  Code  at  Harvard,  24. 

D wight,  Pres.  Timothy,  6;  estimate  of  his  life,  98;  death, 
124. 

D wight,  Pres,  Timothy  (the  younger),  173. 

Edwards,  Dr.  Jonathan,  religious  facts  concerning  de- 
scendants, 242. 

Education  Society,  organization,  120;  purpose  and  progress, 
143. 

Endeavor,  Young  People's  Christian,  252. 

Federation  of  church  clubs  of  men,  269. 
Fining  in  college,  27. 
Fisher,  Dr.  George,  178. 

Goethe,  Johann,  8. 

Good  old  times,  poem,  6;  an  illusion,  16. 

Green,  PreSo  A.shbel,  conditions  at  Princeton,  40,  54. 

Griffin,  Pres.  Edward  Dorr,  conditions  at  Williams,  85. 

Hall,  Pres.  Charles  C,  an  estimate  of  college  religion, 

218 
Hall,  Gordon,  106. 

Hampden  Sydney  College,  revival,  1787,  56. 
Harper,  Pres.  William,  on  present-day  infidelity,  213. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  public  relations  committee, 

195. 
Harvard  University,  established,  21;  motto  and  seal,  20,  28; 

breach  in  "  settled  order, "  49;  religious  condition,  1792, 

79;  1796,  81;  compulsory  church  attendance  abolished, 

185;  Association  work  in,  196. 
Haystack  Meeting,  108. 

Hillis,  Dr.  Dwight  L,,  optimistic  views,  211. 
Houghteling,  James  L,,  founder  of  the  Brotherhood  of  St. 

Andrew,  263. 
Hudson,  Mr.  M.  A.,  founder  of  the  Baraca  Movement,  267. 


Index  003 

Immigration,  volume  and  influence,  165. 

Impressions  of  college  religion,  183. 

Infidelity,  reign  of,  69;  at  Yale,  41;  1794,  1795,  69;  at 
Princeton,  54;  after  the  Revolution,  45;  afEected  most 
professional  men,  59;  most  prevalent  outside  New  Eng- 
land, 61. 

Intemperance,  a  century  ago,  114;  at  Williams,  128. 

Jenkins,  Rev.  Chaeles,  religious  conditions  at  Williams, 
1812,  127. 

Kent,  Chancellob,  on  prevailing  infidelity,  89;  religious 
conditions,  1800,  59. 

Leonard,  John  W.,  6;  public  position  of  college  men,  226. 

McKeen,  Pres.  of  Bowdoin,  101. 

Mead,  Dr.  Geo.  W.,  awakened  interest  in  men's  work,  248. 

Membership,  Church,  basis  for  comparison,  14;  a  fluctuating 

standard,  15. 
Methodists,  relation  to  education,  159. 
Middlebury  College,    percentage  of  professing  Christians, 

1902,  199. 

Miller,  Dr.  R.  W.,  founder  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew 
and  Philip,  264. 

Mills,  Samuel  J.,  106;  his  motto,  109. 

Ministry,  The,  decrease  in  1795-1810,  110;  dearth  of  minis- 
ters, 142;  early  influence  in  college  matters,  20. 

Missions,  college  interests  in,  260;  college  contribution  to, 

1903,  194;  the  haystack  meeting,  108. 
Moody,  Dwight  L.,  estimate  of  college  religion,  180. 
Moral  Society,  rise  and  influence  at  Yale,  75;  best  fruits  of, 

123. 
Mott,  John  R.,  estimate  of  religious  influence  in  college, 
206,  276;  the  modern  Christian  awakening,  285. 

Neely,  Bishop  T.  B.,  president  of  the  Methodist  Brother- 
hood, 266. 
Nettleton,  Dr.  Asahel,  religious  conditions  at  Yale,  1805,  99. 

OccoM,  Samson,  connection  with  Dartmouth,  53. 

Peabody,  Dr.  F.  G.,  204;  estimate  of  college  religious  life, 
276;  interpretation  of  college  religious  life,  208;  regu- 
lations at  Harvard  in  the  past,  27, 


304  Index 


Personal  work  in  college,  none  in  early  days,  37. 
Pierson,  Rev.  Abraham,  rector  at  Yale,  30. 
Princeton  University,  established,  22;  revival  of,  1762,  38; 
infidelity  in,  54. 

Religion,  religious  services  compulsory  at  Harvard,  27; 
at  Yale,  30;  the  voluntary  service,  185. 

Religious  Education  Association,  272. 

Revivals,  estimate  of  the  college,  138;  the  rise  in  college,  93; 
the  great  awakening,  33,  34;  at  Bowdoin,  130;  at  Dart- 
mouth, 53;  at  Hampden  Sydney,  56;  at  Princeton,  38; 
1813,  125;  at  Williams,  1812,  127;  at  Yale,  33;  1783, 
51;  1802,  1808,  97;  1812,  1813,  122;  1815-1817,  124. 

Roosevelt,  President  Theodore,  207. 

Ross,  Rev.  James  W.,  198. 

Seminary,  Theological,  Andover,  111;  Princeton,  126. 

Statistics,  value  of,  17;  ratio  of  college  men  to  adult  popu- 
lation, 243;  in  business,  240;  among  statesmen,  239, 
243;  religious  facts  of  Edwards  family,  242;  of  college 
men  in  the  home,  242;  from  "Who  's  Who  in  America," 
236;  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  230;  ratio  of  professing 
Christians,  1822,  144;  1824,  147;  1827,  149;  1828,  150; 
1852,  1859,  170;  1900,  1901,  197;  1902,  199;  summaries, 
290,  291,  292,  294;  summaries,  Dorchester's,  295. 

Student  initiative,  rise  and  progress,  68  ;  a  power  in  the 
college  a  century  ago,  94. 

Student  Movement,  first  trace,  36;  its  rise  at  Yale,  41. 

Speer,  Robert  E.,  college  type  of  Christianity,  205;  estimate 
of  college  religious  life,  276. 

Strong,  Dr.  Josiah,  the  progress  of  Christianity,  248. 

Taebox,  Rev.  I.  N.,  religious  conditions,  1800,  92. 

Thayer,  Prof.  J.  H.,  college  life  now  and  fifty  years  ago,  217. 

Thwing,  Pres.  C.  F.,  20,  44;  relation  of  Church  to  college, 
66;  public  position  of  college  men,  230,  234;  on  infi- 
delity, 92. 

Tucker,  Pres.,  W.  J.,  204. 

Tyler,  Dr.  William,  50. 

Tyler,  Dr.  Bennet,  religious  conditions,  Yale,  1800,  70. 

Walker,  Prof.  Williston,  declension  of  religion  at  Yale, 

1800,  72;  statement  concerning  Dr.  Wood,  80. 
Wesleyan  University,  160. 
William  and  Mary  College,  22. 


Index  305 


Williams  College,  religious  condition,  1793-1800,  81,85, 103: 

1902,  199. 
Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  32. 
Williams,  Sir  George,  178. 
Wood,  Dr.  Leonard,  79. 


Yale  Univeesity,  established,  21;  purpose  of  founders,  29; 

during  the  great  awakening,  33;  the  college  church,  37; 

infidelity  in,  40,  49,  68;  religious  conditions,  1795-1800, 

70;  1802,  96;  1902,  199;  during  the  Revolution,  50. 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  rise  and  value,  167;  in 

the  college,  188,  256;  fiftieth  anniversary,  254;  record 

of  college  work,  1903, 192. 


Princeton  Theoloqical  ,fH?,7||l||||iiniir 

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